Square One
by FancyNewWeasley
Summary: Pay no attention to the title, I just put my iPod on shuffle and picked the first song that came up. Anyway, this is an account of Scorpius and Rose through the years. Extension of the blurb in my Sorting story, but you dont have to have read it. Enjoy!
1. The Sorting

I'm gonna cry. Dang it! Come on, you are a strong person! Pull it together, you are not a crier! Saying goodbye to my family has been much harder than I expected. I mean, Hogwarts is gonna be amazing! I cannot wait! It's just the idea of not seeing Mum and Dad and even that little bugger Hugo for months! Until Christmas!

Not playing chess with Dad in the evenings, him letting me win and me pretending I didn't know he was letting me win. Not swapping books and drinking tea with Mum. No incredibly fond memories with Hugh come to mind at the moment, but he _can_ be a sweetheart sometimes.

My mother hugged me tight and sighed. "My little girl, all grown up and going to Hogwarts," she said, her own eyes welling up. I think I know where I get my quick tears from. Not to mention Grandma Molly. I think was not meant to be strong when it came to crying, I have too many forces against me: there are too many easy criers in my family.

"I cant believe this day is already here," my dad said, a hand on my shoulder, his little way of protecting me as subtly as he could manage.

Hugh looked frustrated. I knew he was pleased to see me go, but would possibly miss me, and definitely found it unfair he had to stay home for two more years. Lily looked straight up peeved. She was two years younger, but still my closest girl cousin and I was bummed she wasn't coming too.

I gave her a big, quick hug. "Lily, I'll write you all the time, I promise!"  
She made a pouty face.

"Don't worry, you'll be on that train in no time," I said.

With one last look to my family, I hopped on the train, waiting for Albus. Thank goodness I had him, or I would _really_ be nervous.

Once Albus joined me, we agreed to split up and look for Frank. The three of us have been inseparable since birth, and it better stay that way. Among my worries concerning Hogwarts is the monumental fear I have of us falling apart. I mean, what if Al and Frank were Sorted into one House without me?

Before I even made progress looking for Frank, these two older girls approached me. One was very tall with a beaky nose and the other a small brunette with ears that stuck out. They were looking at me quite strangely.

"You're Rose Weasley," the tall one said. It wasn't a question and it wasn't friendly, in fact she was sort of sneering.

"Yes." I said awkwardly. But I didn't know what else to say. I'm never the one approached by wizards- it's always my parents, they're the famous ones!

"We've read all about your family of course. It's my mother that likes to indulge in the tabloids that feature your family, so of course I've heard of you. Once or twice," the other girl said.

"Oh?" I replied still very uncomfortable. If they wanted to come off as uninterested and too good for me, why are they even talking to me?

"You're supposed to be rich aren't you? Because for someone with very famous parents, you don't look too well off. Don't you think, Marjorie?" the blonde said, flicking her hair.

I can't believe anyone could be so blatantly rude! I'm frozen in shock. What do these people want with me?

"No, you really don't, dear," Marjorie said condescendingly. "You're hair could use a few thinning potions and your clothes look so," she sighed, looking Rose up and down. "Muggle-y."

Astonished! I am absolutely gobsmacked. How could anyone actually speak to a stranger like this? Do they expect they're doing me some favor? You're supposed to look like a Muggle, it's a Muggle train station! Not to mention, I rather like this sweater.

I tried to explain this to them but was interrupted.

"We can sort you out, I _suppose_," the taller girl said. "You're in desperate need of a makeover. People at Hogwarts will be expecting you to be more…well _more_."

My jaw was hanging open by now. Who _are_ these people and is this what Hogwarts is gonna be like? I couldn't think of anything to say. I always wished I was super quick and witty, but I never seem to be able to think of a real good comeback in time. Usually, I'll reflect on the conversation later, and suddenly realize what I should have said: the perfect retort for whatever situation, but by then, of course, the moment has passed. Right now I'm just standing here like an idiot.

All of a sudden a tall blonde boy sauntered into the group and said, "As far as I can tell only thing in need of a makeover is your bloody attitudes. I know you're jealous, but please restrain yourselves from being condescending towards a defenseless first year."

I recognized him immediately! Draco Malfoy's son! Malfoy, siding with me? What is this? Also, "defenseless first year"? Let's not get carried away here. I was merely composing my thoughts.

The girls turned and sneered. "And this is coming from a Malfoy? Your family wrote the book on condescending."

"Right we did, so you won't mind if I tell you to run along now?" Malfoy said in a patronizing tone that made even me feel a little inferior. "Maybe to some hideous eye-makeup convention?"

The girls seemed to try and cover up their defeat with glares and sneers but they scurried away, obviously bested.

Malfoy turned his attention to me now. He looked at me strangely, his eyes were serious but his lips twitched into an almost smile. He was taller than me, and I'm pretty tall for my age, and paler, which was saying something because I'm pretty much the palest person in the family. He had golden blonde hair that was combed neatly to the side, and he had the air of someone well cared for. His eyes were perplexing. They were sort of gray-green-blue: like pond water. Oh bollocks, here he is expecting me to say something and I'm comparing his eyes to a pond. I'm so weird!

"Thank you for that!" I said. I sounded a little out of breath. I don't want to be having a conversation alone with Malfoy! Where is Albus?

"Why do you look so surprised?" Malfoy asked, his face immediately darkening and growing defensive.

Why is he getting all on edge? I'm so confused I can't think straight. "Well, you know," I smiled awkwardly. He's _got_ to realize why this is unusual. We were basically born to despise each other. "You're the last person I would expect to come to my rescue." I tried to smile in a friendly way, but he seemed to be getting the wrong impression.

"Not that you shouldn't have, I totally appreciate it, it's just surprising that someone like you would be the first to jump to my defense." I became aware I was talking too much and making it worse, but somehow couldn't stop. I tend to ramble on without thinking through what I say. It's the weirdest thing: I think everything through, I weigh the consequences of every action, but the second I get a little nervous my brain shuts off. I'm still talking. "I mean, Draco Malfoy's son? I'm just shocked that-"

"That what? I'm an actual human being who doesn't relish in the suffering of others?" His face was now a bitter mask.

Oh Merlin, he's right, I jumped to conclusions about him! I am so stupid. But how can you blame me? His family has got such a reputation. But what do I say now?

"I only meant that…I mean my parents have talked about your dad before, and no offense, but he sounded like a bit of a bully." Her parents had told some stories, and her dad was never very forgiving towards Draco.

"A bully? He was a bloody Death Eater," he said, laughing bitterly. "But he's not like that now. In fact, even then he… wait, why am I even explaining this to you?"

This has been the most emotionally draining five minutes of my life. First I leave my family behind to embark on this journey, only to be pounced on by two ridiculous, shallow girls who blatantly insult me. Then, Malfoy comes to my rescue, and within fifteen seconds of our conversation, he's turned against me. Brilliant.

"You of all people should know that kids don't equal their parents. I am not my father. I thought the daughter of two very famous wizards might get that." He almost turned to leave but instead said, "But I suppose you enjoy all the attention? Do people say you've got your mother's brains and your father's courage? Well let me remind you that you aren't your parents either."

Ok, pal you know _nothing_ about me. You're doing the same pre-judging you were criticizing me of here.

"Just because I'm surprised that the spawn of Draco Malfoy- former _Death_ _Eater_- helped _me_ -a half-blood and a Weasley- doesn't mean I need you lecturing me!" I tended to over-accentuate words in an argument. Something I got from my mother.

"I know I'm not my parents, and I would have accepted that you weren't yours, until you went off like that! You only proved that you are a jerk not to mention an over reactor! I barely said one thing to you and you-"

"Weasley, I couldn't care less what you think of me. In the future I'll know not to associate with your kind-"

What a catch this kid is. My _kind_! As if we're a species. I was right all along, he is just a spoiled, arrogant rich kid.

"My _kind_? What do you think we-"

"Not because you're Weasleys, or half-bloods or whatever, but because you're arrogant-"

"Oh _I'm_ arrogant?"

"Presumptuous, judgmental-"

"You talk about judging people based on their family, and here you are judging my family based on your own impression of me! You hypocrite!" I said, poking him on the chest.

I glared at him, my chin jutted out. But he _was_ pretty intimidating his stupid pond boring into me. Guess the pond froze over cause he is like ice. Oh my gosh, that was the lamest thing I ever thought. All of Frank's stupid jokes and puns are getting to me.

He was still, just looking at me as if I was an errant toad that had the nerve to leap onto his dinner plate. I'm used to family quarrels and arguments with the cousins, but this kid is completely different than anyone I have ever met, and he's a little bit scary. But before I could shrink away, he just shot me one last look dripping with hate, plucked my hand off his chest as if it was some foul bug, and stormed off.

Albus had been standing behind him, looking bemused but confused. "Rose, was that the Malfoy kid? You're picking fights already, schools not even started yet!" he chuckled.

"Yes, I've made a friend," I said crankily, storming through the halls. My beautiful first train ride- ruined.

"What happened?" he asked, gesturing towards the compartment where Frank was waiting.

"Oh I've just been having a lovely chat with…I don't even know his name. The Malfoy kid. Spoke with the bloke for two seconds and he gets all offended," I said, rolling my eyes and bursting into our compartment. Frank looked worried and asked what had happened. Frank was always worried.

I very reasonably tried to explain the events of the past few minutes, but he didn't seem to understand.

"I mean I'm sure he was harboring some pre-formed ideas about our family too, but-"

"So, Frank," Al rudely interjected, "what House you hoping for?"

I rolled my eyes again. He's just trying to change the subject, we've gone over this a thousand times. I don't know why he would though, Malfoy seems like an interesting enough topic to me.

Frank responded with the answer I already knew and I huffed. Jerks.

"Fine, I won't tell you anymore. Your loss, it was just about to get good," I said, and I rummaged around in my bag and pulled out a book. Mum had given me this pile of books (Muggle and magical) to tie me down until winter holidays. I was currently starting To Kill a Mockingbird.

But I couldn't concentrate on Scout and the gang. Malfoy was nagging at the back of my brain. I hated the idea that someone disliked me; it made me extraordinarily uncomfortable. I had flaws, yeah, but who didn't?

Maybe I'm a little bossy. Not around the "cooler" old cousins, but with Al and the younger ones, I like to take charge. So? And maybe I'm a bit of a know-it-all. Dad said it was something I inherited from Mum. But it had never caused any significant rifts before.

I'm like my Mum in a lot of ways, I guess. People are always saying so. "Oh you look so like your mother" and "Hermione, she's got your brains". I do have incredibly thick and bushy hair, but it's color is debated upon. Sometimes it seems red and sometimes it's more like my mother's shade. We share a love of books, reading, knowledge, and we always strive to be the best.

I consider myself a sensible girl: the voice of reason. I've always been told I'm mature for my age, and I take pride in that. I'm no rule breaker or prankster like Molly or James. I hate getting into trouble, being scolded is something I take care to avoid.

I think I'm like my dad too though. I'm all freckly, and I have definitely inherited the Weasley complexion. I'm a ferocious blusher- sometimes I blush when I'm not even embarrassed. I'm pretty much in a constant state of blush. I'm also really clumsy. I love Quidditch, but my lack of coordination prevents me from having much talent in it. I may be a little considered lazy and a bit of a procrastinator, especially when it comes to schoolwork. I don't really share Mom's fervor in that department. I like learning, but the assignments usually don't correlate. Seems kind of pointless to me. I'm not much of a confronter either. I can be a bit argumentative, but today has already been more action than I'm used to.

--

We pulled into Hogsmeade and things were suddenly chaotic. There were people everywhere shoving and shouting and rushing around. I caught a glimpse of my cousins Fred and Louis, standing taller than most of the people around. Louis had his arm draped around his latest girlfriend and Fred was flirting with some blonde as well. The two of them were quite the heartthrobs- they were good looking and popular and everyone wanted to be friends with them. Fred with his perfect, dark skin and humble smile and Louis with his confidence and classic good looks. They were a formidable pair, easily the handsomest boys in their year.

Fred writes to me sometimes about his girl troubles. I'm sort of the one everyone goes to for advice. I may be eleven, and have zero experience, but I must give a good take on things because even Victorie asked me what I thought she should do about Teddy (before anyone else, thank you very much) and she's a seventh year!

But before I could even look for more of my family, I was beckoned by Albus to follow the booming voice of Hagrid. He beamed at the sight of us all- he was a regular guest at family functions and was basically apart of the family. His eyes looked like they might be tearing up and he whimpered, "I remember when yer parents were 'ere."

"Yer parents met right on that very train, Rose. And Al, I think yer's met at the station."

Al nodded. Aunt Ginny had told them once how she had pined after Uncle Harry for six years before he ever gave her the time of day. The only person I met on the train was bloody Malfoy and those stupid girls.

Frank, Al and I climbed into the boats with another small first. I sat perfectly still the whole way across the lake. Knowing my luck I would shift in my seat and capsize the whole boat. I saw Malfoy in a boat not far from us, with a very large boy and two other girls. He looked even paler in the moonlight and his eyes were fixed on the castle. I turned my own eyes to the spectacular sight.

In a tidal wave of emotions, it suddenly hit me. In just a few moments I would be _sorted_. Wasn't it just a few days ago Al and I were talking about how Hogwarts was 5 years away?

I have no idea where I'll be sorted, but I'm certain it wouldn't be Slytherin. I'm not least bit assertive and at the moment lack any significant ambitions. And I may be smart and clever, but I'm not wily or sly. Ravenclaw seemed possible. I'm no genius like Mom- I don't have that natural ability to just know things, I have to work at it to be successful. But I think I'm pretty smart and eager to learn. Hufflepuff was also very likely. I'm loyal and friendly and quite a people pleaser. Dom thought it's my maternal nature that would make me Hufflepuffy. But its really Gryffindor I want. Of course that's what I want, its practically in my blood. But I'm not exactly a daring person. I don't jump to go on crazy adventures and tend to look before I leap. But I can dream. Maybe the Hat will see something else.

---

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" Neville called, his eyebrow arched in interest. Scorpius??? Oh that is rich. Wow, that's just cruel.

Malfoy was on the stool for a while, longer than anyone else yet. He looked as shocked as I was when the Hat cried, "RAVENCLAW."

Oh my gosh, this is a free for all. People are being sorted willy nilly- it's totally unpredictable!

I began wringing my hands and trying to speak words of encouragement to Al, but was I barely paying attention to what I was even saying. Al didn't seem like he was listening either.

He was being called up now. I gave him a shove forward when he didn't move (where would he be without me?) and he stumbled to the Hat.

I studied the moment intently. The Hat was placed on his head, paused and then his mouth burst open and he announced Gryffindor.

I felt a little torn. On one side, I'm so proud and truly glad for Al. On the other side, I feel as if my whole life is going to collapse and cave in on itself like a slowly dying star. Who am I kidding, I wont get Gryffindor, and I wont make any new friends and Al and Frank would forget about my and the emotional toll will cause me to fail my classes and they'll kick me out and I will never learn magic and my family will reject her and I'll live a miserable hobbit-Squib life.

"Weasley, Rose!"

I inhaled sharply. Heavens to Merlin, I may fall over where I stand. I walked up to the Hat gingerly, as if each step I took would break a hole in the floor.

Be graceful. Like a feather. Don't fall!!! That would make Malfoy all too happy.

I took deep, soothing breaths as Neville placed the Hat on my head.

A voice was suddenly talking to me. It was the strangest sensation.

"Hmm, you're head is all filled with contradictions. Confident yet insecure. Shy yet bossy. Defiant yet obedient."

Ok, I don't like this Hat poking around and tossing out personal information about my inner self.

"Well, we can rule out Slytherin… and I think Hufflepuff. We both know you're not Slytherin material and you may be sweet and friendly, but you're not a Hufflepuff either. Perhaps Ravenclaw…"

Oh gosh, I wouldn't be with my friends and I'd be with Malfoy!

"You have a preference?" the Hat asked.

I'd like Gryffindor, but its up to you.

…Duh of course its up to you, you're the Hat.

"That I am." The Hat seemed to be considering something and then said, "I think the Gryffindor House could really value you. And I think you'll come to embrace that side of yourself. Because its there…GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat announced.

"Oh my goodness!" I said out loud, beaming. Don't cry! Not now, not now. Save it, Weasley. I may start sobbing with the Hat still on my head. This has just been too emotionally draining of a day. Neville patted me on the shoulder and I got up and scampered over to my new Housemates. I was greeted with all kinds of congratulations, and I sat next to Frank.

During the feast, (oh my gosh, I needed this feast, I haven't eaten in hours and I was becoming an emotional wreck) I became acquainted with one of the girls next to me, Andie. She's a peppy blonde girl who's father works for the Ministry. She seemed pretty nice and really funny and I'm glad to have a friend in my dorms.

After eating a lot and making friends, my fears were squelched. Who cares about Scorpius (haha) Malfoy and what he thinks? I doubt I'll even interact with him at all in the years to come. I've got a new friend, and my best guys in my House. What was I so worried about?

The Headmaster stood and the Hall quieted.  
"Welcome everyone, to another year at Hogwarts!" he said cheerfully. He had light brown hair and a pleasant expression. "First years, we're all so excited to have you here. Everyone should know the Forest is off limits and that magic in the hallways is discouraged against."

A wheezy, grumpy man in the back coughed.

"Excuse me, as our caretaker Mr. Glubson will remind me, magic in the halls is _prohibited_. I can't wait to begin another year of learning and celebrating together, so let's waste no time. Off to your dormitories!"

As everyone was dispersing and the first years were trotting after the prefects I lost track of Albus.

"Frank, where'd Al go?" We looked around and Frank pointed out a black haired kid who looked an awful lot like Al talking to Malfoy.

"No, that kid is with Malfoy. It's not Al." But I moved towards them, totally confused. It was Al and he was cordially chatting with Malfoy. Well, this is awkward.

"Al, everyone's heading back to their common rooms now," I said, ignoring Scorpius. "You don't want to fall behind and get lost."

Scorpius's face was cold. "Nice talking with you Al. Glad to see not everyone in your family is a totally stuck-up arse," he blatantly looked at me and my jaw dropped. And he just sauntered away.

"What was that? What was that?" I asked.

"I was just introducing myself," Al said.

"_Why_? Didn't you hear _anything_ I said earlier? And he just called me an, well you know!" I was uncomfortable with saying bad words.

"Sorry, Rose. He seems like an all right bloke to me and I don't have any reason to be his enemy," Al said.

I do not understand this kid.

"Yes, you-"

"Look, Rosie, He's not going to be my best friend, I simply introduced myself. I promise, I will never love him more than I love you," he said with a smile, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Oh Merlin, if there is ever a day where I have to compete with Malfoy for your attention, I may have to dive into a Devil's Snare. Promise that'll never be called into question!"

He promised, and we ran to catch up with our classmates.

---

The girls in my dorm all seemed nice enough. There was a pretty black girl with tight, little curls named Kristen, a really thin blonde named Charlize and a girl named Jade, who was as freckly as me, but had silky, dark brown hair.

I knew I would get along with Andie the best, but the other girls seemed pleasant too, with the exception of Charlize, who gave me the impression she was faking the big smile she gave me. She just doesn't really come off as sincere. But at least she isn't trying to make me over.

I relayed to Andie the incident with Malfoy.

"Oh Scorpius? My dad knows his dad, his family came over for dinner once."

I pressed her for details and she didn't disappoint.

"Well, his dad's pretty formal, kind of serious, but he seemed to loosen up after a while. I mean, he was cracking jokes and such." She looked at me and I nodded to indicate I understood and she continued, "His mum's great. She's super pretty and really funny. Not like you would imagine her. And she's totally into Muggle stuff. She came over once and watched a Muggle movie with my mum."

Again, I'm surprised. Curse my pre-formed ideas, I'm so primitive.

"Scorpius I've only met once and he barely said a word to me. Really kept to himself. My brother said he got him talking about Quidditch, but I didn't see it happen. I'm really surprised he stood up for you, he seems really shy."

I felt super guilty by now. He put himself out there and I cut him down. I "stole his Snitch" as Dad would say.

But you know what? He's a jerk. He didn't give me a chance either.

…Whatever. I'm never going to talk to him again.

I was super tired, but I still wanted to write my parents before I went to bed. My owl, Rigby (who I named during my Beatles phase) was waiting at my window when we had come up. I said goodnight to the other girls and pulled out my favorite quill and some parchment.

_Dear Mum and Dad, _

_Hogwarts is brilliant. Absolutely gorgeous, like you've always said. I can't believe I'm actually here, this is mental. _

_Now for what you've been waiting for…drum roll please. I'm in Gryffindor! I was so surprised! Anyway, I love it already, the Tower's so cool and Neville will be my Head of House! Al and Frank are with me too! I've made a friend already, Andie Singer. Her dad Mike works for the Ministry, do you know him? _

_I've also made a bit of an enemy. I had the pleasure of meeting Draco Malfoy's son. Charming boy, and he absolutely adores me._

_Anyways, I'm bushed. I'll elaborate later. It's been a long day and I'm off to bed._

_Love you say hi to Hugo for me,_

_Rose_

_Dear Lils,_

_I'm in Gryffindor, really happy, made friend, got in a fight with Malfoy kid, too tired to explain now. _

_Much love, _

_Rose_

I crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. You know when you find that spot and position that is so comfortable you could die happy? That's where I am right now.


	2. Being a First Year

I spent the rest of my first year:

Getting lost.

Studying.

Avoiding Malfoy.

Fighting with Malfoy.

Getting into an argument with Malfoy in Potions which ended in knocking over cauldron, Marianne Marley's eyebrows searing off and me in detention with _him_.

Almost breaking down at the thought of being in detention.

Actually breaking down in detention.

Hexing Malfoy for making fun of me breaking down in detention.

Getting another detention.

Falling down the stairs and getting my shoulder stuck in a trick step.

Missing class because I was stuck in the stairs and the only person who came across me for an hour and a half was Peeves, who, as you can imagine was no help.

Hanging out in the kitchens with Andie.

Rooting for James and Roxie at Quidditch tryouts.

Juggling comforting James when he didn't make the team with congratulating Roxie at being the new Seeker for Gryffindor.

Getting out of James's way when he went on a prank rampage.

Taking Malfoy's insults to heart and avoiding everyone in a self-loathing fit.

Getting jinxed because Albus was sick of my self-loathing fit.

Earning top marks in my year.

Frantically competing with Malfoy to stay at the top of the class.

Finding a secret passageway with Andie, Frank and Al.

Ignoring Al for a week when he sided with Malfoy in a debate.

Feeling stupid afterwards.

Drinking tea with Hagrid and Professor Longbottom.

Being called "Miss Granger" by Professor Flitwick more often then not.

Missing home.

Loving Hogwarts.


	3. People That Do or Don't Take My Advice

I practically sprinted through the barrier of Platform 9 and ¾. Not that I didn't have a great summer! Oh no, I love being bored to tears in the heat at the Burrow spending most of my time sorting Grandma Molly's photo albums. There's nothing I enjoy more than hanging at the Burrow alone with nothing to do except be put to work by my grandmother. You'd think with a family like mine, someone would always be hanging around, but not the case this summer. Victorie and Teddy are both busy with work and each other, they never want to hang with us anymore. Uncle Percy had Molly on lockdown, seeing as she's entering her NEWT year and she "skirted her responsibilities for long enough". Lucy went on lockdown voluntarily, she'll be doing her OWLs this year and is freaking out already. I don't even know what she can study over the summer. The Potters were in Australia. Uncle Harry had some big Auror thing to do there, so the whole family went along for most of the summer. Dad went too, but we didn't come cause Mom couldn't take the time off work, so he just went alone. Frank spent all his time helping his mom at Leaky and hanging around Diagon Alley so we didn't see each other much. Andie went the Caribbean for a month, so I didn't see her either. Dom and Roxie popped by every once and a while, but they've got their own lives so its kind of hard to join in. Even Malfoy was apparently abroad for the summer. The point? I was bored and alone all summer while every once else did something cool and needless to say I was happy to be going back to Hogwarts for my third year.

Second year was uneventful. Aside from awkward encounters and hard glances, I barely interacted with Malfoy at all and there wasn't much going on in the school other than hormones and lots of "awkward phases".

I spotted Andie pretty quickly and we immediately rushed to each other's sides, hugging and giggling. She started filling me in on her summer- the weird wizards she met and how her brother was a total pain the whole time. Andie had an older brother, a fifth year Hufflepuff, who had apparently totally blown off her birthday.

"Birthdays are a big deal in my household. I pitched in on his amazing new broom for his birthday! And what does he get me? A box of Bertie Botts. Not even good ones! This was definitely something he whipped up at the last minute. I have a sneaking suspicion that they were his snack for the journey and he remembered it was my birthday so just gave them to me."

"Typical," I said. I hoped this wasn't her most exciting story from her trip.

"So I told him of course, 'This is _disgusting_! I deserve better and you know it! This simply isn't good enough.' "

Just as I was about to respond, "You go, girl" or something equally as lame, I felt a hand sneak around my waist. I jumped in surprise, being easily startled as I am, and almost had a heart attack when I realized who it was. Standing there, smirking, and looking as casual as ever was Scorpius Malfoy.

"That's what I have to tell Weasley every time she _begs_ me to go out with her," he said, grinning. He laughed and looked at me in this entirely foreign way, winked and then was gone.

My jaw dropped. "Whatwas_ that_?"

Andie looked equally unsettled. "Looks like Malfoy. Sounds like Malfoy. Mean little comment like Malfoy. But I can't believe Malfoy would ever put his arm around you and wink."

"I know! He's the angstiest thirteen year old on the planet, and now he's all jovial and cheery? He must be up to something," I said narrowing my eyes as I watched him board the train.

"He certainly changed over the summer. Did you see his hair?" Andie asked, glancing over at him as well.

Instead of his normal, slicked back blonde hair, he had a buzzed cut. Not to mention he was significantly tanner than before. As a Malfoy, he was always pale as parchment, but now he looked positively sun kissed.

Miffed, I made my way to our compartment after a distracted goodbye to the family. Sitting down by the window, I pored this new development. No one seemed to think it was very interesting, so I sat in silence going over it all in my head.

Lily and Hugo popped in to say hello and I immediately waved her over. Despite her youth, I confide in Lily often. She's a hopeless romantic and its fun to giggle over crushes with her. Since she's not in my year and never knows the objects of my affection, there's no worry she might secretly like them too, as it can be with Andie.

"Have you seen Malfoy?" I asked.

"No, why? What's he done now?"

I explained the situation to her. "Can you imagine?" I asked. Being the drama queen of the family, I thought she would appreciate it.

"What's the big deal?" she asked.

My shoulders slumped. Am I the only one who cares about these things?

"He never talks to me ever unless it's to say something really cold and definitely never touches me, ever. And now he's cracking jokes and being all merry? …Lily, this is big! I want to know what got into him over the summer! And he looks so different, too! You know how his hair used to be combed back all slick like his father's? Well it's all shaved now! I never thought he would have it in him, maybe it's subtle defiance… And he's even taller, and get this: tanner than I am! _He's_ the Malfoy, he's supposed to be pale!"

"Rose, why are you so upset?"

"Upset?" I said immediately cooling off and feigning nonchalance. "I am _not_ upset, I'm simply intrigued by his sudden behavior change. He's like a different person, it's strange…"

I slunk back into silence, determined not to say another word about Malfoy. Lily and Hugo scurried off after this and I spent the rest of the ride not listening to the rest of the compartment's conversations.

------------------

I quickly learned that Malfoy's personality transplant was permanent. From Al, I learned he had spent the summer in Italy and had fallen in love with some girl and had his whole outlook on life changed.

Big whoop. Now he thinks he's Mr. Cultured and Dignified. He keeps talking to me like I'm some immature little kid.

Our teachers seemed to take his new attitude as a sign that perhaps we might be civil class partners again. I don't know why they're pushing this so hard. They all seem to be collaborating, they think our competition against each other will push us to excel and produce outstanding work or something. Point is, I now have to spend DADA, Charms and Muggle Studies (if you believe Malfoy voluntarily took Muggle Studies) working with him. Even Hagrid's taken a liking to him this year. Spare me.

I am not fooled.

I sat down next to him the first week of class and he immediately grinned at me (something totally unprecedented). It was a sly grin, not particularly friendly, but still.

"What's the _matter_ with you?" I asked, scooting away.

"Excuse me?"

"What got into you? Why are you all of a sudden all…happy?"

"Oh Weasley, I just got over the triviality and pettiness of it all." He leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. "This summer taught me that sitting around obsessing over stupid things and moping wasn't going to get me anywhere. The kids in this school just don't understand that poring over the little issues are just going to make them waste their lives away." Ugh he thinks he's so superior.  
"I don't understand. Are you saying you want to try to…get along? Like be _friends_?" This seemed too absurd.

"Uh, haha," he chuckled a particularly condescending chuckle. "Not exactly Weasley. I just told you, I'm moving _past_ the immaturity. Civility is fine. But I'm not interested in picking out china patterns or anything."

"Malfoy, _I_ am not the immature one here. Not to mention, _I_ don't even _want _to be friends with you. You're always the one that's-"

"Oh Weasley, this kind of reaction is exactly what I'm talking about." He smirked this infuriating smirk that made me want to punch him. I curled my fists into tight balls, weighing the pros and cons. Eventually I just exhaled and faced the front of the class. How was I going to deal with this all year?

-----------------

I sat in the Gryffindor common room one Thursday afternoon, just taking a break. My coursework had significantly intensified this year and I felt like I was working harder than ever to maintain my increasingly slight lead on Malfoy, who seemed like he never even had to pick up a book.

As I contemplated taking a nap in the rare peace, I spotted my cousin Fred looking forlorn. I tilted my head, it was unusual for Fred to look morose and even more so for him to be sitting alone. He usually had a flock of people around him, but now he was just sitting in a corner chair twisting a piece of string around his finger.

Nap or comfort Fred? I pondered this question for a good while before getting up and shuffling over to Fred. The things I do for this family.

"Hey, Freddie. You OK?" The common room was pretty much empty with the exception of some first years playing chess and a few fifth years studying, but I spoke softly anyway.

"Hey, Rosie." Fred was one of the only people who could pull off calling me "Rosie".

"What's the matter?"

"That obvious, is it? I'm usually pretty good at keeping it cool," he said with a chuckle and a sigh.

"Go on, then," I prodded.

"It's just…you know Chrissie?"

I nodded, of course I did. Chrissie was Fred and Louis's best friend and was the only girl that they didn't consider dating.

"Apparently, she likes Louis. And he found out and now he's being all flirty and thinking about asking her out."

"And you aren't comfortable with that."

"No! I mean, not only are they my best mates, and it would be weird if they got together, but you know how Louis is with girls. He's not interested in long-term relationships. And I just don't want Chrissie to get hurt and things to get awkward."

I wondered if Fred was feeling a little hurt because he was just as good of friends with her and she didn't like him. Personally, I think Fred's a catch. Louis can be very charming to all those girls, but Fred really cares.

"…Do you have feelings for her?" I asked.

He looked down at the string he was still playing with. "I don't know. It's confusing."

I left it at that.

"Well, are you going to tell Louis this? You should. He probably wouldn't care, especially if he thought it would endanger your little trio." I said.

He nodded. "Yeah I guess. Maybe I'll just hint at it. Hmm." He looked deep in thought so I pecked him on the cheek and wished him luck.

He smiled softly. "Thanks Rosie."

I knew Lily would want to hear about this, but I thought it best to respect Fred's privacy on this one.

It seems like everyone's getting boyfriends these days. My roommate Charlize is going out with the Hufflepuff Seeker, Andie went to Hogsmeade with a Gryffindor in our year, Dan. Not to mention Victorie, Lucy and Molly, who all have steady boyfriends and Dom and Roxie, who have a little gaggle of fan boys. And Malfoy seems to have a new girl on his arm every week. I don't even know where he finds them all.

I was sitting in the Great Hall eating lunch one day when he slid up next to me.

"You have three seconds before I hex your face off, Malfoy," I said, not even looking up from my sandwich.

"Whoa wait a second, Ruthless," (He likes giving me nicknames, often starting with R)

I turned to glare at him. He was lounging casually, his shirt a little undone. I was struck by his eyes, they're so bright you see, and for a second forgot everything. But I composed myself within an instant, ready to stare daggers once more.

"I come in peace, Reptile," he said. "Actually, I need some advice."

"Excuse me?" I said, gob smacked.

"You're the only girl who's opinion I would trust!"

I continued to stare in disbelief. Why would he ever trust me of all people?

"You see, as you may have noticed, I've become quite popular amongst the lady population of Hogwarts, Weasley. Any one of them would give me bad advice to try and land themselves a little Scorpius." He grinned. He id sickeningly arrogant. "With you, I can be reassured your own interests wouldn't be an issue. Because, correct me if I am wrong, you do not envision yourself in a relationship with me?"  
"Not in a million years."

"Excellent. I mean, aside from your obvious physical attraction to me, you are the best..." he hesitated, waiting for a word, "girl? for the job."

"A) I _am_ a girl, you toad. B) You better be nice to me or I wont listen to you. And C) I am not attracted to you in any way shape or form!"

"Of course, Radiance," he said, flourishing his hand in a little bow-like motion. I nodded in approval. "All right, so you know the two girls that hang out with Cameron and I, right?"

Scorpius's best friend, Cameron Wright, was also a Ravenclaw and more tolerable than Malfoy, though still an arrogant tosspop. They spent a lot of time with Marianne Marley and Amanda Floyd, also Ravenclaws. They were nice enough, I don't know why they choose to spend time with Cam and Malfoy. I also don't know why Marianne forgave Malfoy for burning her eyebrows off but has never quite been the same to me.

Malfoy continued. "Well, I have it on good account that they both like me. Unsurprising, but a little complicated. I don't exactly see Marianne in a romantic sense, however Amanda I would love to go out with. But I cant very well choose her without hurting Marianne and making things tense."

_What_ is with all the love connections going on lately?

"I cant believe I'm actually considering giving you proper advice, but I don't want to see you totally screw up those girls."

"Oh I only had plans to screw _one_ of them," he said with a sly grin.

"Stop or I don't give you my opinion!" He motioned zipping his mouth closed. Honestly, the words out of this kid's mouth. You're fourteen for Merlin's sake! "I think you should avoid asking out Amanda. Most likely it would only last a few weeks and she would end up resenting you not to mention ruining her friendship with Marianne. Its not worth it."

"Why would her friendship with Marianne be ruined? I'm the jerk in this situation."

"You're the jerk in _every_ situation. But girls will always turn against their friend before the guy they like. It's stupid, but it's the way it goes." I shrugged.

"Hmm. So you say no?"  
"If you value their friendships at all, then definitely. Now get away from me," I said shoving him.

"So sweet," he said, walking away backwards and blowing me a kiss.

I caught it and very carefully crushed it with my fingers and then mimed throwing it on the floor.

----------------

A few days later, I stood in front of Muggle Studies waiting for the Professor to arrive when Malfoy came strutting over, arm around a girl. Wait. Not any girl. Amanda, the very girl I told him to stay away from not five days ago. He kissed her for an obnoxiously long time before finally parting and waving flirtatiously as she scampered off to her next class.

"What the hex, Malfoy?" (Hahaha this was always a pun I found funny and no one else really did.)

He grinned lazily. "What? Oh Amanda? We're going out."

"After you so adamantly sought my advice, why would you disregard it? Did you see Marianne's face?" She had not walked with the group as usual and was talking to another girl in the corner, glaring at Amanda as she passed.

"It'll be _fine_, Weasley. Everyone makes such a big deal of things at first but it'll blow over. Plus, Marianne doesn't know I knew she liked me, so I'm not _really_ at fault."

"But you _are_, idiot. Just because she didn't know doesn't mean it isn't so." I inwardly congratulated myself on this rhyme. Catchy _and_ informative.

He just rolled his eyes and said something about me blowing everything out of proportion.

"Oh yeah, but don't you come crying to me when your friends want nothing to do with you!" I called after him as he entered the classroom.

Nothing but trouble.


	4. Yuletide Follies

I had totally been looking forward to fourth year. You know, we're all grown up, we can go to the Ball, we can …well that's about the extent of our new privileges, but still. We're not the bottom of the food chain anymore.

But as I sit here at the Gryffindor table during our first feast, I realize nothing will be different. It's just all the same people doing all the same things. Andie and Frank are debating over something. I think Andie is trying to explain why she thinks Charlie Hobbson is cute and Frank clearly isn't having any of it. James is teasing Al about something, and Al is getting defensive. Roxie and Jake are discussing Qudditch tryouts, because Jake is planning on trying out for Beater, while Dom flirts with some hot Slytherin. Malfoy is leering from the Ravenclaw table. Sigh. Just like all the other years.

However, my first day in Transfiguration was met with quite a few surprises actually. Professor Weber, my favorite teacher, announced that she would let us choose our own partners for the term. This was new, usually we were partnered with people from the other Houses. Something about the "inter-House unity" all the teachers loved to blab about.

Before I could even ask Al, Andie or Frank to be my partner, Gene Spry tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I'd like to be partners. He was a Gryffindor, but I didn't really hang out with him. He was close to Charlize and those kinds of people. But he smiled friendly enough and I would feel bad turning him down so I reluctantly smiled and said, "Sure."

He sat down next to me, smiling and said, "I just felt stupid having gone to school in the same House as you for four years and never really making an effort to get to know you. Plus you are one of the smartest girls in our year so I'd be more than happy to be partners with you." He chuckled.

I was a little taken aback, so I just smiled and agreed. Gene was good looking I suppose. He had dark brown hair that was neatly parted, green eyes and a nice enough smile. He was kind of skinny and lanky, but over all he had a pleasant appearance. Plenty of girls liked him.

After class, Andie yanked me into an empty corridor and commanded me to explain.

"Honestly, I have no idea why he wanted to be partners!" I said.

"Well there must be a reason why he's suddenly taken interest in you, did you talk to him at all recently? Or anything of the sort?" she asked. Andie was always trying to get me to go out with guys, but for some reason it doesn't fall into place for me like it does for her.

"Whoa there, he doesn't have an _interest_. He probably just wants a good grade in Transfiguration." Transfiguration was my best subject.

"We'll see. I will be monitoring this closely," she looked excited about the possible prospect of romance for her spinster friend.

I rolled my eyes. Please. Gene? Yeah right.

---------------------

Before I knew it, November was upon us. Things had been so busy lately! Classes, all the Quidditch games…Ok it doesn't sound like much but it feels like a lot!

But the only thing anyone could talk about these days was the Ball. Headmaster Hunt loves celebrations, so he throws two Balls a year: one at Christmas for fourth years and above and one at the end of the year for sixth and seventh years.

"Weasley!" called a familiar voice. I rolled my eyes. We had just gotten out of a particularly grueling Herbology lesson and I was not in the Malfoy mood.

"Bad manners, Weasley, " he said catching up to me. "I'm trying to talk to you."  
"You never just want to talk to me Malfoy. Every conversation is shrouded in put-downs and insults."

"Not this one! This is totally different. Its about the Ball actually."

I stopped and turned to face him, looking perturbed.

"I'm asking you," he said, smiling broadly.

I dropped all my books. "What?!" I exclaimed. He began gathering my books up and putting them back in my hands. I was totally frozen in shock.

"Yeah. I figure it's the best solution. You see, all the other girls in school would get into a riot over who I chose and that girl would be insufferable and expect some serious relationship or whatever. I don't want to have to worry about my date being clingy or everyone getting all jealous. This is the perfect arrangement!"

"And _what_ makes you think I'll agree?"

"What are your other options? Al is going with Katie Fisher and Longbottom is taking Jade Barnes." He gave me a pointed look. But he was right. My guy friends already had dates. I had kind of been hoping Gene might ask me- we had become friends in Transfiguration- but he had asked a Hufflepuff girl a year younger. Other than them, I didn't really know any guys well enough to think they'd ask me. What's worse, not going out of shame or going with Mafoy?

"Weasley, I'm a popular and attractive guy. I'm sure your little friend Spry would get pretty jealous seeing you strut in with me."

"Merlin, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I guess you're right. But you have to help me too! I wouldn't mind seeing Gene get a little jealous," I said blushing, "so you have to do everything in your power to make sure that he does!"

"Absolutely, Red. This is a business arrangement. Also, you'll need to show me your dress robes so I can approve of them and we can color coordinate. Be in touch with you," and he strode back to the castle. What a _girl_.

This would probably turn out badly. Guess I better write my mum and ask for new robes. My old ones aren't exactly "Malfoy's Date" material. Ew, I'm Malfoy's date.

My friends and family were pretty confused about the situation, but I wasn't exactly going to tell them that I was going with him because I was a desperate loser with no better options. That would defeat the whole going with Malfoy thing.

"At least we don't have to worry about him taking advantage of our little Rose," James had said with a chuckle.

"Hey, that was a little mean," I said, but didn't contradict him. It was true, the last thing I was worried about was Malfoy trying something with me.

"Now now, we know Rose will be a great catch for some guy some day," Al said, smiling sweetly but a little patronizingly. I just wish I could have a boyfriend to get all this nonsense over with.

I got these pretty dress robes my mum sent out. They were green and Andie and Lily both said it looked great with my hair and everything. Jade, my roommate, curled my hair in pretty little waves as opposed to it's usual bushy mess and Andie did my makeup. Andie, of course, looks perfect with her tight, blue dress, straight, blonde hair and gorgeous fifth year date. Frank and Al clean up pretty good, too. They both looked a little uncomfortable, but charming. I saw Gene making his way to the Great Hall and blushed a little when he waved. He looked quite nice, too. But where the hex (hehe) is Malfoy, he's supposed to be here helping me make Gene realize his feelings for me!

I was standing awkwardly outside the Hall when he appeared. Ok, I am aware Malfoy is a good looking guy. But he's always been such a pest I never really thought of him as an attractive person. However, now, I must admit it. He really is gorgeous. He may be a lazy, arrogant scumbag, but he looks pretty darn good tonight. His hair has grown out fairly long and shaggy this year. It's not messy like Al's though, it's, I don't know…classy. And he just looks so suave and _handsome_. Ew, I feel like I need to wash my brain of these thoughts.

"Rose," he said with a nod of his head. His smile actually seemed sincere, or maybe I was still a little caught up.

"Aren't we being friendly. You actually called me by my first name." I said. I can't remember a time he ever addressed me as Rose.

"I thought we should be civil for tonight at least. Unless you prefer otherwise?"

"No! I would like to have a pleasant evening if you don't mind."

"Shall we?" he asked. He seemed torn between his natural instincts towards girls (charming and seductive) and his natural behavior in relation to me (something similar to how one might act towards a bug in their food).

We linked arms somewhat awkwardly and grimaced at one another before striding into the Great Hall. By now, everyone knew we were going together, but there were still whispers and stares as we took our seats. He surprisingly agreed to sit at a table with my friends, but Cam Wright and his date joined us.

When the music began to play and people started getting up to dance, we realized something we hadn't really thought of prior. We would have to dance with each other! That's pretty much going to be the most awkward thing in the history of Hogwarts.

He turned to face me and laughed at the look on my face. "Merlin, Weasl… _Rose_, don't look so excited! Come _on_, we agreed to pretend to be civilized for one night," he said, taking my wrist and dragging me to the dance floor.

I know all the elegance and grace I posses would lead one to believe I am an excellent dancer, but believe it or not, I'm not the greatest. I spent almost the entire first song sort of just shrugging my shoulders and bumping into people and being laughed at by my charming date.

"You dance like a drunk house elf!" he said over the music.

I glared at him. I would feel like such an idiot if I actually tried to mimic the exuberant and somewhat sexy moves of my peers. Also, how did he know how a drunk house elf dances?

Malfoy spun me around a few times and I started to laugh and relax, and by the third song ("Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Bash") I was actually having fun. Who would have thought?

Malfoy was twirling me around and trying to get me to trip into couples dancing intimately and it kind of felt like we were almost friends. We were dancing as goofy and dorky as possible, and it surprised me he played along. He doesn't seem the type to let loose and make a fool of himself, and yet here he was shuffling to the beat like a total geek.

We were already worn out by the fifth dance so we went to get something to drink. We stood on the outskirts of the dance floor, sipping our drinks and making jokes about Professor Binns, when Al saw us and waved us over to his table. But when I moved to join him, I couldn't. Malfoy seemed to be struggling in the same fashion, he was wriggling but was unable to leave the spot we stood.

In simultaneous horror, we both slowly looked up. Enchanted mistletoe hung merrily above us, taunting us with the jolly little song it sung. My stomach plummeted to the ground and turned into a little puddle on the floor. I knew I was blushing furiously.

James skipped over to us happily. "Howzit, lovebirds?" He had the most infuriating smirk.

"Did you do this, Potter?!" I asked, trying to attack him, but falling over. No use of the legs, you see. Malfoy helped me into standing position again.

"No, _Weasley_, they're just attracted to couples in love. Haven't you ever read anything about enchanted Christmas objects?" James said, beckoning Andie and a kid with a magical camera over to us.

I racked my brains for everything I read about wizarding Christmases. Frantically, I began wringing my hands and breathing deeply. I never read anything about enchanted mistletoe!!

"This must be some kind of mistake!" I said hysterically.

"Relax, Rose I'm joking. I did put that there. And you have to kiss or you wont be able to move." Smug son of a basilisk.

I looked at Malfoy helplessly. "There _must_ be another way."

"Nope, 'fraid not," James said bluntly.

Hesitantly, Malfoy and I leaned towards each other, both with looks of repulsion on our faces. We managed to work out an awkward little cheek peck in which I started instinctively bending away from him and by the time the two second kiss was over, I was half bent over.

And yet, nothing. I fell over again trying to get away.

"Come on, that's no kiss," the kid with a camera said.

I glared at him with a look that could have Petrified him.

"I, I refuse. I will not ever- please James remove this at once! I will write to your mother! I don't even- why would you want this? Andie do something! I can't just-"

My frenzied speech was cut off because my mouth became otherwise occupied.

Malfoy had taken my face in his hands and kissed me. Kissed. Me.

Once I sorted out what was happening, I sort of…well I am ashamed to admit this, but I kind of enjoyed it. Part of me was furious. I didn't want that slimy git to be my first kiss! And I certainly didn't want to enjoy it and (heaven forbid!) kiss him back. But the part of me that was in control of my brain at the time (actually I felt pretty _out_ of control) concluded that there was nothing wrong with a gorgeous classmate whom I was getting along with very well tonight snogging me a bit.

It was surprisingly…tender. I hate that I used that word to describe anything at all, let alone Malfoy, but it was. His lips were really soft and the kiss was slow and sweet and my stomach seemed to have regained solid form and then exploded a thousand times over.

And then it was over. I stood there shell shocked, staring at him.

"What?" he said. I remained frozen.

"Its not a big deal," he said, rolling his eyes and grinning. "Just a kiss."

I didn't think I'd ever regain consciousness, but yeah, no big deal. James was whistling and cheering, and then ran for it when he saw our faces.

"Lets get _away_ from here," he said, grabbing my hand this time as opposed to yanking at my wrist like before. I trotted alongside him, still not recovered.

As we sat down at Al and Frank's table, we both wordlessly agreed that that never happened. For enemies, we were excellent at reading each others minds.

"Dates bail on you already?" Malfoy asked, smirking as he took a sip of butterbeer.

"Come on, have a little faith Scorpy." Malfoy sneered at the nickname. "They're in the bathroom."

"That's what they _told_ you," Malfoy said.

"How's it going with your date?" Al asked. "That red head from Gryffindor, right?" he said, pretending to be oblivious to the fact that I was right there.

"Eh, so so. She sure can dance, though. That's pretty much the only reason I asked her, cause of her extraordinary moves. And her smokin' hot bod, of course." Despite the sarcasm, I blushed. My heart was still racing and I kind of needed to catch my breath.

After smacking Malfoy on the head with my purse for making fun of my dancing and lack of a "hot bod", I excused myself to go the restroom.

I ended up running into my cousin Roxie in the bathroom and talking for a few minutes and then tripping and ripping my dress a little and enlisting a random older girl to help me mend it with magic and then relaying the whole story to Andie at the drinks table.

"I couldn't properly reach it and wasn't well going to take off my dress to fix it, so I found this girl who was able to repair it. Its not noticeable is it?"

"Nah, you're fine. Would never know. But who_ cares,_ get to the interesting stuff! You looked like you've been having a really good time with Malfoy!" she said, bouncing excitedly.

"Oh it was fun enough. 'A really good time' seems like an exaggeration." I said, trying to avoid the kiss conversation

"You kissed for like, eight seconds. Eight seconds!" She shook me.

"It couldn't have been eight seconds," I mumbled.

"You should have seen your face," she continued. "Not to mention you haven't been able to keep your eyes off him all night."

"Psh, that is so untrue," I said distractedly.

"Look at you! You're looking for him now!" It was kind of true, I was scanning the Hall in search of him.

"Solely for date obligation purposes…where _is_ he?"

"I don't know, but I think he's growing on you. You look like you're _more_ than happy to be obligated to stay by his side."

"Andie, one hour of getting along and playing nice cant erase years of hate. And why are you so pro me and Malfoy all of a sudden?"

"Cause its so romantic! Like your _Pride and Prejudice _book! Stop pretending you hate him anymore, _if_ you ever did! Look at it logically, you like to do that."

"If you ever compare Malfoy to Mr. Darcy again I'll hex you." I said.

She laughed and trotted off to find her date.

Speaking of which, I couldn't seem to find mine anywhere. I inspected the Hall thoroughly, and then wandered out into the corridors, wondering if he had gone to the restroom, and then reluctantly outside to the garden area. But what would he even be doing out here?

Ah, how soon I found out. As I turned a corner, I nearly smacked into Malfoy and the girl he was passionately kissing. They broke apart for a second and he hazily seem to recognize me.

"Sorry, Rose can we er get some privacy?"

I just stood there, fuming. I don't know why I was so mad. Wait, yes I do. Cant leave that boy alone ten minutes without him running off and snogging someone else.

Malfoy sighed, recognizing all the signs of a Rose Weasley Angry Fit. "Whats the matter?" he said this like a parent asks a child why they wont eat their food.

"I helped you out by coming along and you've completely ditched me and have yet to fulfill your end of the bargain! Not to mention its just plain rude! Date obligation, Malfoy! Date obligation! You owe me!"

The girl, who I noticed as Amanda, his ex-girlfriend cleared her throat. She traced circles on his neck and asked all seductively, "Do you want me to leave?"

"No, no. Weasley was just on her way, now. Because she knew this wasn't a real date and therefore the obligations don't apply."

I could feel the tears coming. Anger swelled through my stomach. I was angry with Malfoy, for being such an ass, angry with myself for nearly crying over him, angry with Amanda, for being such a slut, and more angry with Malfoy for pretending he didn't do anything wrong!

"It wasn't a real date, but it was a "business arrangement" and you didn't come through!"

He just stared at me with slightly raised eyebrows.

"Did you do this on purpose? Invite me just to ruin my night?" My words sounded strangled.

"Weasley, I brought you along because I _didn't_ want a clingy date that was obsessed with me, so I consider your end of the bargain unfulfilled as well" he said coldly, turning back to Amanda.

"Obsessed? Wha…? Obsessed with? I- I am not! You… I'm leaving!" I stuttered, shoving him as I passed.

"No, please stay," he mumbled sarcastically.

I walked as quickly as I could back inside and as I turned into an empty corridor, I burst into tears. I cursed myself for crying over him, why am I even crying over him? Its _not_ a big deal. And yet I sat there under the portrait of Barnabus the Barmy, sniffling and marinating in self-pity and anger.

I finally composed myself and tried to regain some semblance of composure. As I passed the Great Hall on my way up to my dormitory, I saw Gene. He waved and ran over.

"Rose!" he hugged me enthusiastically. "I haven't seen you all night, are you having fun?"

He then noticed that my eyes were red and glossy and I was clearly upset.

"Whats the matter, what happened? Did Malfoy hurt you?" he said, puffing out his chest.

"No, he was just being a jerk. He totally ditched me," I said laughing feebly.

Gene snorted. "Why'd you even come with that moron in the first place?"

"Long story," I said, waving it off.

"You deserve to be shown a real date by a real gentlemen." He puffed his chest out more.

"Who's that?" I said yawning. I just wanted to crawl into my sock drawer and sleep for days. (**AN**: Ten points to those who recognize this reference).

"Me of course, " he said, his voice dripping in bravado. He reminded me of the princes from the Muggle cartoons I used to watch with my grandma. "How would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me after the holidays?"

I just looked at him confused for a little bit. "What about that girl you're with tonight?"

"Oh I'm not actually interested in her, we just came together."

All too familiar.

"Alright, I'd like that then," I said awkwardly.

"Great," he said. "I better get back in there, but have a happy Christmas!" he said, waving as he ran back inside.

I made my way back up to my dormitory, got rid of all the make up and threw my robes in my trunk. I shut my curtains and curled up under the covers. I can't believe _he_ was my first kiss. What rubbish.


	5. A Different Perspective

**So I haven't written in forever, sorry bout that. This ones from his perspective, so enjoy!**

Weasley has been giving me the cold shoulder for the past three weeks. Ever since we returned from Christmas holidays and she started going out with that duffer Gene Spry she has maybe said three sentences to me. You'd think it would be really difficult to avoid someone you have to work with in half your classes, yet she's managed quite well.

She is so _annoying_! I can't believe how dramatic she's being over this whole Ball fiasco. I mean please, we went together so we wouldn't have to deal with bothersome partners and could just have a good time, but no she has to freak out and sever all ties with me.

I don't particularly _care_, it's just we used to do all our assignments together. We would bicker and tease and end up irritated by the end of it, but we would get good marks and could collaborate in case one of us was uncertain. Now that she wants nothing to do with me my grades are slipping. Not dropping, give me a break, I just ugh, have to put in _work_ now.

Naturally, Amanda and I aren't together. We fizzled out during the holidays, as expected, and I don't mind other than that it's irksome that Weasley's in a relationship and I'm not. What would possess someone to date her?

I was leaving the Great Hall one February evening when I ran into Gene. We used to get along well enough last year and all but for some reason he's really been getting on my nerves recently. Not to mention I lost respect for him since he's dating Weasley.

"Hullo, Scorpius," he said cheerfully. Git.

"Gene," I said slightly irritated. I was content with that being the extent of the conversation, but he seemed to want to continue chatting.

"How've you been?" he said, oblivious to my irritation.

"Super!" I said with fake enthusiasm.

"Great!" he said cheerfully. There was an awkward pause and I tried to make a move to leave but he stopped me when he said, "Things with Rose have been just wonderful. I can't believe I never noticed her before. I mean, you sat next to her for…forever, how did you not just _fall_ in _love_ with her?"

I stared with what a face that clearly said, "You are a class-A moron." But instead said, "Hmm, yeah, how did I let that one get away?" My voice dripped with sarcasm.

Unaware and grinning like a frickin idiot, Gene shook his head enthusiastically.

"Actually, Rose and I never really got along… I mean ….how do you put up with all her annoying little habits?" I couldn't help but ask.

Gene scoffed. "What annoying little habits?"

"You know! Well, the way she always plays with that ring of hers and then drops it and loses it and freaks out and then does it all over again? Or how she hums to herself when she does her work? Or the way she runs her hands through her hair _all_ the _time_? Oh or the way she reads a book she runs her thumbs over all the pages at the corner of it? Or, oh Merlin my favorite, how when she's stressed or nervous she checks her pulse? As if she's afraid her heart stopped beating?"

"What?"

"Don't tell me you never noticed any of that?" I asked. Weasley's "quirks" have driven me crazy for the better half of my Hogwarts experience and couldn't imagine that her boyfriend, who spends more time with her than anyone didn't notice them.

"Not really." He chuckled a little.

This guy doesn't know anything about her does he?

"Uh, it was nice talking to you though, Malfoy," Spry said, looking a little weirded out, but smiling as _always_.

Intrigued, I headed towards the library. As I suspected, Rose was sitting at one of the tables, bent over her books, scribbling thoroughly. She was twirling her ring around her finger, as I had just mentioned to Spry. I slid onto the chair opposite her and stared. She ignored me.

"Weasley." I said, continuing to stare. I knew her and I knew that by now she would be dying to look up. But she was holding her ground. She had been successfully avoiding me for so long now I was just ready to get back on speaking terms with her. I don't like being ignored. I wonder which would be a greater shot to my pride, sucking it up and apologizing to her or walking away and letting her hold onto the satisfaction she beat me. _Sigh_. I was going to have to check what I was going to say if I wanted her to accept it.

"Weasley. Look, I'm really sorry about the ball. I was a prick, I didn't…I'm just sorry, ok? It was stupid and it won't happen again."

"You're darn right it won't happen again," she said, shooting me a pointed look. "When will I ever go to a ball with _you_ again? She sneered. But there seemed to be some kind of unsaid agreement that things could go back to normal. I grinned.

"Now Weaslebeezy, we have got some catching up to do. You have a _boyfriend_! Isn't that soooo cute."

"We have nothing to catch up on, Malfoy, we never talked in the first place."

"A boyfriend, a boyfriend, Weasley's got a boyfriend!" I sang tauntingly.

"Shut it, prick."

"I was talking to ole lover boy today. And I have a theory."

"Really, whats that?" Weasley said mocking interest.

"You don't really like him. And you two are not good together."

Weasley just stared at me for a long time. "Are you _crazy_, Malfoy? What business do you have saying anything at all about my relationship? You don't even know me or Gene!"

Ah, I had missed that shrill shrieking. Like a banshee!

"Ok for the record, I know you _very_ well. Better than him, in fact. Honest, he really doesn't-"

"Alright, there's only so much I can tolerate from you so if you'll just-"

"Think about it, Weasley! Really, you don't even have to admit it to me just admit it… to yourself." I said in a mocking dramatic plead. "What's the snogging like?" I said after a pause.

"None of your business, like I said, now leave me alone!"

I decided not to test her patience today and stood to leave. "If you ever need a proper snog you know who to call," I said with a wink.

"Gross!" She shoved me away but I just laughed.

"In your _dreams_, Weasley. In. Your. Dreams." Honestly. As if I'd give Rose Weasley a go when half the girls in Hogwarts could be mine with a snap of my fingers.

I made my way back to my Common Room where Cam and Xavier, another Ravenclaw our year, were lounging, looking bored.

"What are you guys up to?" I asked, flopping down on one of the couches.

"Rating girls," Xavier said. "We've just finished the Hufflepuffs."

"Oh wow you guys, really? So cliché…" I said rolling my eyes and grabbing one of Cameron's chocolate frogs.

"Gryffindors." Xavier said. "Hmm…Jade Matheson."

"I'd give her a seven." Cam said.

"Really?" I interjected. "I mean I _guess_ I could see it. I'd say six though probably. Not the greatest body. Not bad by any means just not… great."

"Oh Mr. Superior climbs down from his ivory tower to join us in this cliché practice?" Xavier said. "And I'd give her an eight, I think she's just…really cute." I think he blushed a little.

"Got a crush, have we?" I asked teasingly.

"_Cute_?" Cam said. "Interesting word choice." We both sniggered.

"What! She is, shes really cute!" He folded his arms. "I stand by that adjective."

"Alright alright," Cam said. "Charlize Fallon?"

"Nine," Xavier said without hesitation. "She's _incredibly_ hot."

"Yeah, she is pretty high up there," I agreed. "Points off for being kind of trashy though."

"Are you kidding, points _on_. Raises your chances a little," Xavier said with a chuckle.

"Too skinny," Cam said.

After a bit of a debate, we moved on.

"Who else is in that dorm?"

"Andie!" Cam said.

"Yeah, yeah we all know what you think of Andie." Xavier said.

"The blonde hair, the smile, the body, the eyes? She is the total package. To borrow a phrase, she is ridiculously 'cute'." Cam sighed.

"Yeah, I'd giver her a six or seven I think," I said. She's pretty, undoubtedly, but nothing special.

Xavier snorted. "For someone who gets around, Malfoy, you're a tough critic… Ah whos left?... Rose Weasley!"

I made a sound that was a cross between "deaughh" and "plegh".

"Oh come on Malfoy, Weasley's kind of hot. I mean once she opens her mouth it's all shot to hell because she's so bossy and annoying but definitely not bad looking." Xavier said.

"For a ginger," Cam chuckled.

"No, but do you not agree? Good skin, nice smile, fan-tas-tic rack. Not bad at all," Xavier said cheerily.

"She could try a little harder," Cam said. "Potential's there though."

"Are you guys joking?" I said. "She's always frazzled and messy and her hair's all bushy. And her teeth-"

"Are looking quite nice these days," Xavier said. "I stand by my assessment. Definitely worthy. If you exclude the personality and give it a nonbiased look."

The next day in class, I tried my hardest just to picture Weasley as a girl and not as the Blast Ended Skrewt she had always been to me. She was leaning on Al's desk looking over a paper, hair tumbling out of it's ponytail and hanging in her face. She was biting her lip. I suppose she's not _ugly_, persay, maybe what I found annoying could be interpreted as… quirky by someone else. Al said something and she laughed. Xavier was right, her teeth were perfect. I wonder when she had them corrected. Her face lit up and her eyes were almost completely closed but they kind of twinkled. Merlin, I'm describing eyes as twinkling. Avada me.

I decided I needed a new girl. I scanned the classroom for candidates. Preferably someone who wasn't an idiot for a change.

I didn't come to any immediate conclusions but was certain I'd have someone at the next Hogsmeade trip. I wasn't going to just hang around with the guys when Weasley was certain to have a date.

Hogsmeade was upon us and I had decided upon a Slytherin girl in our year. Her name was Enya Reilley and while not conventionally beautiful, I found her compelling. She was very serious and intense and alluring, different from any other girl I ever dated. I was actually a little surprised that she agreed to go with me. A Hogsmeade trip seems so frivolous. But it is _me_.

I didn't want her to think I wasn't taking her seriously so I listened intently to everything she said as we sat in a secluded booth in The Three Broomsticks. She was talking about her desire to be a Healer at St. Mungos when I saw Weasley and Spry enter and sit at a table across from us. It was hard to pay attention to Enya when I had such a perfect view of Weasley and her boyfriend. I had barely ever seen them interact.

She seemed intent upon her butterbeer and only glanced at him briefly throughout the period of time they were seated together. She couldn't look more uncomfortable and was adamantly avoiding him as he made an effort to hold her hand or kiss her. Oh this is just _delicious_.

"Scorpius?" Enya asked and I snapped my eyes back to hers. "Is there something going on back there?" She turned around.

"No, no don't worry about it, I thought I saw someone I knew, turned out to be a shrunken head. Continue, go on."

I was giddy with glee. I had been right. Weasley had no epic romance. She could barely even be around the guy!

We left the Three Broomsticks and Enya requested we pay a visit to Flourish and Blotts, as she had some things she wanted to pick up. I told her I would meet her there as I just wanted to use the restroom.

In fact, I wanted to talk to Weasley. After Enya was out of sight, I cornered Weasley near the ladies room in the Three Broomsticks. Gene was still sitting at their table, drumming his hands obliviously.

"Oh Merlin, Malfoy go away!" she tried to storm off but I grabbed her hand and pulled her into a booth.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked as I flung her onto the seat opposite mine.

"I was right. About you and Gene."

She scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh cut it out Weasley, you and I both know it's true so you might as well fess up!"

"Honestly, I have no idea what-"

"Rose! Please!" I gave her my best "sincere gaze". "I honestly just want to know what you're going through. I used to tell you things, remember? I trust you, so can't you trust me? Just this once?"

She looked at me suspiciously. "If your intentions are so noble then why is this interesting to you?"

"I-I want to get back on good terms." That wasn't a total lie, and my intentions weren't malicious, I just was pleased _Rose Weasley_ didn't have her love life anymore together than the rest of us.

She looked down and sighed. "Don't say anything, ok?"

I nodded ferociously.

"It's just…oh Merlin, Malfoy I can't do this anymore! It's _so_ uncomfortable! I can't pretend everything's fine." Her head drooped dejectedly and for a second I forgot she was Weasley.

"Hey," I said softly, reaching across the table and turning her chin up. "You can talk to me about it, I'm the perfect person to talk to. I'm not in your friend group, don't know Spry…you can tell me what's wrong."

She sat frozen in disbelief. I noticed my fingers still on her face. I coughed and we both shifted in our seats.

"Yes…well…Gene is really great. I like him, I do. For some reason though, I can not be around him anymore! Everytime he's even close to me I just get sick to my stomach and nervous and I don't even want to look at him. I don't know what's wrong with me, most normal people are fine with this stuff."

"Why don't you break up with him?" I asked.

"I can't, it's too awkward. For a Gryffindor I just can't seem to muster up the courage to say anything."

"Weasley, you need to do something, you're gonna be miserable. Seriously, this can't go on. You- you deserve someone who you want to be with. Someone who lights you on fire. Someone who you're passionate about and who appreciate you. Who _knows_ you."

Rose's brow furrowed and a grin broke out across her face. "Malfoy, that was positively poetic." She giggled. "Honestly, you are acting so out of character, you've gotta be up to _something_."

"Merlin, I'm trying to be nice and I get laughed at. Here I am, nothing but an absolute _peach_," I grumbled.

"No, no. I…I do appreciate it. If you were being sincere that is. I should go though, he'll be looking for me." She stood to leave and I jumped up in front of her.

"Wait! What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to try, Malfoy. Ok? Let me go, now." She made her classic "You're Taking This Too Far" look and walked around me.

"Let me know how it goes, Rosie Posey!" I winked.

She turned around and whispered, "Shut. Up!" She then scurried off to where Gene was waiting.

What a strange, pathetic little person.


	6. Besotted: Part 1

**If anyone even remembers this story, here's a new chapter! More coming immediately! **

His name is Brian Fletcher. And I'm hopelessly, pitifully in love. Let me explain.

Our Defense professor set up after class hours to practice for OWLs, so naturally I signed up right away. It was a prime opportunity to apply my practical skills and there were N.E.W.T level students there to help us. One of these aforementioned upperclassmen was Brian. He's smart, handsome, sweet, not to mention one of the funniest people I've ever met. I've never liked a guy like this. I'm completely gobsmacked every time I'm with him.

We were practicing Patronuses now and I was torn between working to my full potential and impressing him with my ability or playing it a little slower, therefore garnering more personal attention. My pride couldn't handle me playing dumb though so I tried my hardest to excel. Not to mention Malfoy attended the sessions (which was out of character, he usually doesn't like to put any effort into his work) and I couldn't have him upstaging me in any way.

Speaking of the devil (quite literally) we were in one afternoon session when Malfoy sauntered over to me. "What do you think your Patronus is going to be, Weasley?" he asked, grinning. "I'm thinking something in the woodland creature family…a squirrel?"

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Oh! A beaver! The teeth, the bushy hair, the frumpy work ethic?" he said, grinning with excitement.

"I am _not_ a beaver. And who describes beavers as having a 'frumpy work ethic'?" I said. Honestly, my teeth weren't even bad anymore. Of course he hadn't noticed.

"You are sooooo a beaver, Weasel. Oh! A weasel? No…definitely a beaver still. Definitely a beaver."

"Rose, Scorpius! Stop flirting and get over here." Brian flashed his killer smile at us.

"Flirting!" I scoffed.

Malfoy just shoved me and said, "Psh."

We were going to actually try the Patronus today, we hadn't been able to do so yet. I had been thinking about my memory and decided upon a family event this summer, when I received my prefect letter and my mum and dad told me how proud they were of me. It had been a great day, Frank and Al had been showering me with affection and everything had been wonderful.

I took a deep breath and on the count of three said firmly, "Expecto Patronum!" A wisp of silvery material shot out of my wand and petered out soon after. Malfoy chuckled.

"And what happy memory could you possibly have, Malfoy? Drowning a puppy, maybe? Kicking children?" I asked snarkily.

Malfoy just gave me an irritated look and pointed his own wand. The same thing happened to him.

"Have that problem of fizzling out often? I mean you know what they say about a guy's Patronus…" I said, grinning.

Malfoy got incredibly close to me. I backed away a little bit, taken aback. He brushed my hair away from my face, leaned down to my ear and whispered, "You _wish_ you knew." I shivered. I regained my composure enough to smack him in the arm and make a noise that sounded like "Mmph!"

"Bit drafty in here, Weasley?" he said amused.

I spun around and whipped out my wand, summoning every ounce of power and happiness in me and channeling the annoyance I felt towards Malfoy. "Expecto Patronum!" A burst of light filled the room and a silvery object swirled around me.

"Is that an otter?" one older girl shrieked.

"Hermione Granger's Patronus is an otter! Taking after your mother are we, Rose?" Brian said excitedly.

"No." Malfoy stepped forward, patting my shoulder. "That…is a beaver."

I pushed his hand off of me and stared at the swirling figure emerging from my wand. It was. It was unmistakably a beaver. Damn. Malfoy's laughter echoed through the room.

"Congrats to Rose for being the first to accomplish the Patronus Charm!" Brian said cheerfully. He applauded and clapped me on the back. "And such a cute one at that," he smiled at me. I died.

"Yeah, at least I can _make_ a Patronus," I glared at Malfoy.

When Malfoy did finally successfully perform the Patronus Charm (in the next session ha!) it turned out to be an eagle.

"Wow, have you ever seen anything so majestic?" he said, looking at it fly around the room.

It was pretty bloody impressive. Git.

I was sitting with Al, Andie, Jade and Frank at breakfast one day when Brian walked by. "Great job yesterday, Rosie. You really nailed that hex we were working on," he said with a smile.

I tried to be as casual as possible, since Jade, Al and Frank didn't know about my crush. "Oh, thanks! Yeah, haha thank-thank you." Attempt at being casual: failed.

"See you around, Rosie."

"Bye!"

Slowly, I turned back to my friends. Al was staring at me, completely straight-faced while Frank was cracking up.

"Oh thank you, thank you so much! Tee-hee I just loooove Defense Against the Dark Arts!" Frank said, doing a cruel but accurate impression of my giggling.

"So, Rose. Something going on with you and the seventh year? You're positively _glowing_," Al asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Stop it! Don't tease me. Besides, there's obviously not."

"Well, yeah, considering he has a "thing" going with Ariana Overin," Jade said before taking a bite of her bagel.

I froze. Ariana Overin? The sixth year from Slytherin? I knew of her, Lucy was friends with her. All I had really gathered was she was not particularly smart but super ambitious and always involved in school functions and activities. She had always seemed nice but I could never shake the feeling it was fake. And she's always dating someone new. Whoever was the hottest item on the market. How could he be with her? What could he possibly see in _her_?

"Uh, Rose?" Al said.

I had been digging my knife into the table. "Sorry, just forgot I have this big paper due, I have to go!" I gathered my things and was already out the door before Frank could yell, "What paper? We have all the same classes!"

I stormed into the Gryffindor common room. Overin. Ugh. I stopped though when I saw my cousin, Dom, and Peter Longbottom sitting in one of the corners. Dom appeared to be crying and Peter was patting her on the back, a look of concern on his face. Not wanting to interrupt, I ran upstairs to the sixth year girls dormitory. Fortunately, I found who I was looking for.

"Roxie, what's the matter with Dom?" I asked. Roxie and Dom were some of the most popular girls in the school. Roxie, with her dark smooth, skin, her wavy hair and light eyes was the feisty one that every guy was obsessed with. Dominique was tall and tan and had long blonde hair and a killer smile but it was her sweet and adorable personality that got her so many admirers.

"How'd you hear about that? If its made its way down to your year already it must really be spreading fast," she said rubbing her temples.

"I saw her downstairs, she looked upset. What's going on?" I asked, sitting on her bed.

"Well, don't tell any one, she's already devastated about how many people are talking about it. But you're family." I nodded.

"She really liked this guy in our year, Brett, but he had a girlfriend. The other night though, they were talking in the library and he told her he broke up with Meg and that he had feelings for Dominique. They kissed and Dom was thrilled, but she wanted to be respectful of his ex so she recommended they keep the relationship under wraps for a while. But last night they were snogging out on the grounds and Meg and some of her friends saw them and confronted them. That's when Dom learned he hadn't broken up with Meg and she felt so terrible. And everyone's been really awful to her about it. Meg forgave her after she explained but she's still heartbroken so our whole year sees Dom as this home wrecker."

"Oh gosh. Poor Dom, that's terrible." I said, running my hand through my hair.

"Yeah, not only does she have to deal with the fact that this guy she totally fell for was a cheating liar and that now everyone hates her."

I made my way back down to the common room. Dom was gone, but Peter was still sitting there. I always liked Frank's older brother. He had dirty blonde hair, clear blue eyes and overall just a pleasant appearance. He was just a good guy who was always ready to help out.

"Hey, Pete." I said softly sitting down next to him.

"Rose, there's my favorite ginger," he said with a smile. My hair's not even really that red. I mean my family is full of real redheads, you'd think people wouldn't classify me as one.

"How's Dom doing?" I asked with a jerk of my head towards the dorms.

Peter's smile faded. "Better, I think. It's just hard to watch her go through this, you know? She's the sweetest girl I know and now everyone hates her because of a mistake she didn't know she was making. I hope they get over this soon, for her sake. I just can't believe they're letting this cloud their judgment of her. Doesn't anyone remember that she's got the kindest heart out of anyone here?" His voice got soft and he looked down.

I stifled a smile. Peter and Dom had always gotten along quite well. They say these sort of things happen for a reason. If this whole disaster occurred to somehow bring Peter and Dom together, well I could get behind that.

"You're a good friend," I said. "Sounds like Brett is a real prick. I think we can agree she deserves someone better." I shot him a pointed, knowing look and smirked at the bewildered look on his face. I stood and left to find Lily, she would love to hear about the possibility of feelings between these two.

I was in the library, writing my Potions essay one cold December day when Brian sat down next to me. A huge smile broke across my face. Despite the fact that he was still dating Ariana, we had been hanging out quite a bit. He always paid extra attention to me in the practice sessions and we had even eaten a few meals together. He was just funny and sweet and adorably protective of me. He always teased me about my "relationship" with Malfoy and warned him to keep his hands off.

"Rose," he said, his eyes staring right into mine. He had a burly, manly physique and dark hair and eyebrows but light eyes that always made me look away before I got caught staring into them too much.

"Brian," I said, smiling.

"Got a date for the Ball?" he said casually.

I blushed and started wringing my hands. "Actually, I wasn't planning on going." I feel like such an idiot. What a loser. "Um, I had a pretty awful time last year so I wasn't really interested." I coughed and tried to look him in the eye. "You and Ariana excited?"

"Uh," an embarrassed expression broke out across his face. I was on the edge of my seat. "Actually, we got into a fight. And, well, we kind of broke up."

I'm sure I was bright red at this point. I tried not to look too thrilled. "I, um, I'm sorry to hear that," I said.

"It's alright, it had been building up. But, you see, that's why I was wondering if you were free for the Ball. I don't have a ton of "gal pals", if you will." He grinned goofily. "And I was hoping I could just go with a good friend, someone I could just have a nice time with. No drama. But if you're not interested-"

"No! No, I mean I'd totally go with you, we're friends!" I said, my heart racing. Also why do guys always just ask me cause they want a 'friend'? I like being friends with boys but in this situation it's kind of inconveniencing me. "Are you sure you'd want to go to your last Christmas Ball with me though? I'm only a fifth year," I said, blushing furiously.

"Yeah, like I said, we're friends. I don't see why not," he said with a shrug.

"Ok-ok great! Really great. This-this should be fun, right? It'll be fun!"

"Absolutely," he said. He stood up. "I have a study group I have to meet in the common room but I'll see to you tomorrow?"

Once he was safely out of sight, I bolted. I had to go somewhere he wouldn't be, so I couldn't go to Gryffindor. I practically sprinted to the Hufflepuff common room, where I would hopefully find my brother. I approached the still life painting in the basement. "Pumpkin Pasties" I said and walked forward right into the paining.

Bollocks. Hugo hadn't told me the newest password. Maybe enough time had passed where it wouldn't be weird to go to our common room? I had so much pent up energy. I had to do something!

I took deep breaths and calmly began to walk. I figure I'd take the long way back to Gryffindor. Not long into my journey, I came across Malfoy in front of the Ravenclaw common room.

"Malfoy!" I said, giggling uncontrollably.

He stared suspiciously at me. "…Weasley? Who slipped firewhiskey in your pumpkin juice?"

"Oh you're silly," I said, bouncing up and down on my toes and giggling more. "Is this your common room? I've never been in the Ravenclaw common room!"

He just raised his eyebrows in typical Malfoy fashion.

"Malfooooyyyy, you're supposed to invite me in!" Somewhere in my mind, I realized I probably sounded like all of the stupid girls that were always throwing themselves at him but I couldn't control myself.

"Wow," he said, but he gestured for me to enter. There were plush, midnight blue armchairs and a lovely view of the mountains. There were also a lot of people around, so I tried my hardest to keep calm.

"Where are the dormitories?" I asked innocently.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Weasley?" he said, smirking with amusement.

I just laughed like a crazy person. Malfoy rolled his eyes and gestured towards the stairs.

As soon as we were in his room and the door was shut I exploded. I was jumping up and down and squealing like a little girl. Or my dad at the start of Quidditch season.

"For Merlin's sake Weasley, if I wanted a screaming banshee in my room I would've brought one back from Defense class."

I calmed myself slightly, still beaming. "Sorry, Malfoy I just am so excited! Brian just asked me to the ball! _Brian_!"

"Who?" he asked, looking uninterested.

"Brian Fletcher. You know, the _seventh year_? Tall, stunning blue eyes, muscu-"

"Ok, ok I know who you're talking about. I get the point."

"He asked me to the ball! I don't even know what to do, I can't think straight!

"Well that's clear," he said, sitting down on his bed.

"I'm just so happy!" I resumed bouncing and squealing, this time I did so kneeling on his bed, causing him to bounce as well.

"This is my boggart," he said completely straight faced. I flopped down on the bed, smiling drunkenly.

"I'm sorry Scorpius. I didn't mean to take that out on you, I just needed to tell someone."

He sneered. "Well now that you've inflicted that upon me, feel free to take off anytime, _Rose_."

I lay there, just breathing, staring at the ceiling. Then it began to sink in where I was and whom I was confiding in. I sat up, straightened my hair and smoothed my clothes. "Sorry, Malfoy. That was…extreme," I said calmly.

To my utter shock, he smiled. Well, sort of smiled, with Malfoy it's always more of a smirk. "As long as it never happens again. It's probably good that you're going with him anyways. I mean, you've been following him around like a Niffler after spare change for months."

"I'm going to ignore that and focus on two other things instead. One: you're a closet Chudley Cannons fan?" I gestured to a pair of silk boxer shorts with the team's logo printed on them that were peeking out from under a pile of clothes.

Looking genuinely caught off guard, Malfoy stood and kicked the clothes under his bed quickly. "I wouldn't call myself a _fan_… if you tell anyone I will vehemently deny it."

Smiling widely, I continued. "Two: you care about me."

"_What_?"

"If you didn't, you'd be happy to let me carry on like a gold-struck Niffler. But you want me to be happy. Because you care about me. For real." I said this in a joke-y sentimental way, but Malfoy's eyes darkened and something seemed to come over him. He leaned on his bed post.

"Don't delude yourself Weasley. The last thing I would want to see is the two of you strolling the halls together," he made a face like he was going to be sick but the playful energy had left the conversation.

"Why? Cause you're _jealous_? Do you have a crush, Malfoy?" I maintained my teasing, joking tone but for some reason anxiously anticipated his reaction.

He paused. There was something terribly formidable about him sometimes and now he was more intimidating than ever. It reminded me of first and second year when he was angst-ridden and angry at the world.

"Not that I'm concerned with what you do with your _pathetic_, little life, Weasley, but even if you could get this guy to touch you, which I doubt you ever could, the last thing I would want to see is the two of you strolling the halls together. Because not only do I not care about you, I actually _wish against_ your happiness." There was venom in his voice that was unfamiliar to me.

I sat frozen for a moment then stood slowly. I walked out, not looking behind me as I left.

I don't know why this hit me hard. I don't know why I felt surprised he would say something like that. Or disappointed. But I did. I felt foolish. I realized how I had come to kind of even enjoy what Malfoy and I had. It was almost like we were friends. But why did I allow myself to believe that when I know how he gets?

I took a few deep breaths as I walked out of the Ravenclaw common room. I resolved to push the issue from my mind. I had much more important things to deal with. Like the ball with Brian. Or more immediately, my unfinished Potions essay.


	7. Besotted: Part 2

I sat in my last class before the ball, anxious and impatient. My Muggle Studies professor was rambling on about the effects of Muggle cinema on their culture but I was barely paying attention.

"Now over the holiday, you and your partners are going to be assigned a film from a list of Muggle favorites, and then assess various aspects…" I had stopped listening. My partner in this class was Malfoy. Meaning, I had a holiday assignment with _Malfoy_. And we're supposed to watch a movie together?

Professor Prescott was now having the partners pick their films out of a hat. Malfoy and I exchanged glances and I couldn't tell which of us was more pissed off. We were next. "Rose, Scorpius, you're up."

With a sneer, Malfoy pulled a slip of paper out of the hat. "_Titanic_?" he read out loud.

"You have got to be kidding me." I said, putting my face in my hands.

"Bloody hell," Malfoy groaned.

"Careful, you two," our professor warned.

"She expects us to watch this love-y dove-y melodramatic crap?"

"How do you even know about this movie _pureblood_?" I said the word in the same way most people sneered at 'Muggle-born'.

"One of my mum's favorites," he grumbled. "I suppose you love it?"

"I don't _love_ it," I blushed thinking of Leonardo Dicaprio. "But it's so long! We're expected to sit through that whole thing together?"

He lowered his voice so the Professor wouldn't hear. "We should just work on it separately."

"But how are we supposed to write a cohesive essay?"

"Fine! I can't believe this is happening to me," he mumbled to himself as he scribbled his address on a slip of paper. "Owl me. We'll figure it out."

Professor wished us a good holiday and dismissed us. I snatched the slip of paper from Malfoy and rushed out of the room. It was hours until the ball but I wanted to get away far away from Malfoy as possible and focus on the night ahead.

"Ugh, you look fine, stop fussing," Al said, as I adjusted my hair in the mirror for the fifteenth time. Al, Frank, Andie and I were in boys dormitory, getting ready to go down to the common room and meet our respective dates. Al and Andie were going together and Frank was taking Lily. It was one of those years where everyone was too lazy or plain old desperate and ended up going with 'just friends' and people's cousins. Lily had begged me to convince Frank to take her, as a third year she wouldn't have been able to go otherwise. He claimed to have obliged because he wanted to help her out, but really it was because he had no one else to go with.

"You look _great_, Rose," Andie said enthusiastically. She looked lovely, of course, in a flattering pink dress with her blonde hair in an elegant updo.

I looked in the mirror again. I was wearing my hair long and straight, as the girls in my dorm had suggested. Plus I wanted to create as dramatic a contrast from last year's ball to this one. Then I had worn a flowy green dress and my hair in soft curls. This year my hair was stick straight- thanks to some borrowed potion- and my dress was fitted and midnight blue.

Andie and I continued exchanging compliments until Frank stopped us. "Never mind all that, we have to go!" Frank stood by the door, urging us out. His short brown hair looked neat and his hazel eyes were rolling.

"You don't think we look pretty, Frank?" Andie asked teasingly. Smirking, she spun me around and then gestured up and down her body.

Frank looked a little dazed for a second but then snapped back to reality. "You guys look amazing. Really." He still sounded rushed but spoke genuinely. I couldn't help but notice his eyes were on Andie the entire time. I looked at them both suspiciously but I don't think either noticed. Frank resumed shooing us out of the room and down the stairs. "Will you all shut it so we can get a move on," he grumbled.

"I don't like your eagerness, Longbottom. This is my baby sister you're rushing to meet." Al said warningly.

"Gross!" Frank exclaimed.

I peered down the stairs to see if Brian was waiting in the common room. He was leaning on a couch, talking to someone, looking as dapper as ever. I had to take a deep breath and pause. Al, who was behind me on the staircase, rolled his eyes, patted my shoulder and continued on without me. Trying to remain calm, I followed him down the stairs, stepping carefully so as not to fall. I hoped it looked like one of those walking-down-the-stairs-dramatic-unveiling-of-a-suddenly-beautiful-girl-you-never-realized-you-loved, but I'm pretty sure I just looked like I was going to piss myself.

Brian smiled widely as I walked over to him, offering his arm, which I linked in mine happily.

"You look lovely, Rose." I tried to detect anything in his voice that would help me determine if he meant this in an affectionate, little sister way or a passionate lover way but I got nothing.

The ball was going splendidly. Spending time with Brian in itself made my _year_ but dancing with him and getting paraded around as his date was truly exquisite. There was a certain pressure to the evening, I may have been trying too hard to be fun and charming but overall it seemed to be going well.

While we were out on the dance floor, the band began to play a slower song. My heart started racing: up until now our dancing had remained quite chaste. But now he was taking my waist and I was grasping his hand in my own, placing the other lightly on his shoulder. The look in his eyes remained one of brotherly fondness but I couldn't imagine he could hold me this way and not feeling _anything_.

I glanced up at him again and was struck by something new in his expression. He was looking past me and seemed downright melancholy about something. I had honestly never seen him look so sad.

"Brian, are you ok?" I wondered if it was the right thing to say, as it might kill the moment, but it was too late now.

With his attention called back to me, he smiled, although it looked half-hearted. "Yeah, of course. Sorry." His smile still seemed sad.

"Don't apologize! What's the matter?"

He twirled me around so that I was facing what he had been looking at: his ex-girlfriend, Ariana, who was dancing with her date. She looked absolutely stunning. Her curly, blonde hair was in perfect long ringlets and her shimmering silver dress showed off her incredible body. Personally, I always thought her face was a little alien-y but there was no denying that she looked beautiful tonight.

I paused, unsure of how to approach the situation. Hesitantly, I asked what had happened between them.

He sighed, appearing to weigh the benefit of spilling his soul to a fifteen year old girl he didn't even know all that well. Finally, he said, "Well, I'll be done with Hogwarts this spring and I've got a job lined up at the Ministry but she's still in school for another year. And we just didn't know how to handle the situation and it caused some tension so we split… Long-distance never seems to work out, you know? Everyone says to avoid it cause it's not worth the trouble. And it seems silly and naïve to go through all of that trouble for a school romance that could never be expected to last. It's like, no one would take the relationship seriously or believe we're in love cause we're just kids…but that's the thing. I am in love with her... I know it." He seemed pained and almost surprised at his own words.

We had effectively stopped dancing at this point, just barely swaying. There was a sinking, sick feeling in my stomach as he described his dilemma. I knew there was no chance for us but I threw my whole, stupid heart into the hope of it and it was completely futile. I still couldn't understand what he saw in that girl but if he loved her, I did want him to be happy. I would accept this in a bitter, self-pitying kind of way but I would accept this.

"I don't think you should worry about what is sensible or expected or any of that. You seem certain of your feelings. You shouldn't let anything so inconsequential hold you back."

Brian looked at me thoughtfully. "You think it's worth a try?"

I bit my lip. Why am I such a sacrificing, selfless person? "It sounds like it's what you really want, so why not give it a shot?"

"Yeah…I think I'll talk to her about it. I mean, we should at least get back together, I still have a few months at school."

"Right," I smiled weakly.

"Thanks, Rose," he smiled largely. He kept glancing over to where she was standing.

"Why don't you go talk to her now?" I asked, the masochism continuing.

"What and ditch you? No way!"

"Seriously, I don't mind! It's pointless for you two to spend the evening apart."

"Rose. You're the greatest. I can't tell you enough how much this means to me." He let go of me, taking my hands in his and kissing them. I tried to not get excited about that, as I was pushing him into the arms of another girl, but my heart still raced. With one last hug, he walked off to reunite with Ariana.

I tried not to look sulky as I trotted off to a table where Al, Andie and Frank were sitting, taking a break from dancing. I didn't want this to be a repeat of last year, where I ran off to my room just because of a boy. Lily appeared to be out on the dance floor with the other lucky third years who got asked.

"You removed yourself from Brian's side long enough to say hello to us?" Frank said in a mocking tone.

"I'm not _that_ bad." For some reason, I didn't want them to know what had transpired.

"Where is lover boy?" he asked, scanning the room.

"Where's _your_ date? Oh wait, I mean where's my thirteen year old cousin?" I said, irritability punctuating every word.

"Rose, is something the matter?" Al asked, his expression concerned.

"Nope," I said, feigning happiness. "Just taking the mickey out of Frank." I smiled weakly.

Andie looked suspicious, but instead of interrogating me, she seemed to catch someone's eye in the distance and excused herself. We tried to see where she was going, but she disappeared in the crowd and we lost her.

James sat down in her place, fanning himself. He grinned. "Hey wallflowers, what're you doing over here?"

"What are _you_ doing over here?" Al asked.

"Taking a break. She's exhausting me out there." He had taken some girl named Aubrey to the ball, despite the fact that it was common knowledge he was infatuated with Nicole Green. She had turned down his request, like she did every year and now he was approaching the situation differently by trying to leave her alone. So far there was no progress as far as any of us could tell.

As Al and James continued to banter, my eyes drifted to the dance floor where Brian and Ariana were dancing and making love-y eyes at each other. Guess they worked things out. He probably made some passionate and adorable speech. I felt like I might be sick. I politely excused myself to go to the bathroom, standing and gathering my dress in my hands as I walked away. My pretty blue dress, wasted on this night.

It's stupid to cry. Of course it wasn't going anywhere, did I ever actually believe it was going anywhere? I barely knew the guy, this shouldn't be affecting me as much as it is. As I entered an empty corridor, my face fell into my hands and I let a sob escape. Breathing deeply, I attempted to contain myself so that I could at least get back to my room in one piece. Rounding a corner, I bumped into who else? Malfoy.

I stumbled into him (clumsy in my high shoes…ok fine I'm always clumsy!) who instinctively caught me in his arms. We both stepped away quickly. Without a word I walked away, removing the cumbersome shoes as I went.

"Wait! Wait, Weasley!" I could hear him behind me but I didn't look back. He grabbed my arm and spun me around but I turned and continued to walk. "Weasley, are you crying?"

"No!" I said, although it was more obvious than ever that I was.

"Yes, you are! Wait, why are you crying? Wait!"

I finally stopped, wiped my eyes and turned to face him. "I thought you didn't care about my pathetic little life."

Malfoy looked stumped. I was about to stalk off but he closed his eyes and exhaled. "Weasley, I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it."

All my frustration seemed to release at once. "Why do we do this? Why do we even talk to each other? All we do is piss each other off then apologize so we can be reconcile a non-existent friendship and for what?" I sounded a little hysterical but I didn't care. "I'm tired of going through all this crap for someone who isn't even my friend."

"I don't know." He seemed genuinely perplexed. "Why do we?" He sat down on the floor of the corridor. For some reason I slid down next to him. "Maybe we should just be friends."

"How could we do that? Don't we hate each other?" I asked, intrigued by this strangely upfront conversation.

"Do we? I don't know. We spend a lot of time together."

"I thought that was cause of class work. But I guess we do talk a lot more than we need to… We should figure out whether we're friends or enemies and then just stick with it," I said matter-of-factly.

"Ok well what are the reasons we should be enemies?" he asked.

"We're in different houses."

"Our parents hate each other."

"You annoy me."

"You're a man-whore," I offered.

"You're a goody two shoes."

"You make fun of me."

"_You_ make fun of _me_."

"You leave all the work to me in our assignments."

"And we have a tendency to piss each other off, so…what are the reasons we should be friends?" he asked.

I paused, trying to think. "Um, we have to work together a lot."

"We see a lot of each other…around."

"There don't seem to be a lot of reasons."

"But we…gravitate towards each other, you can't argue with that. Maybe it would be easier if we tried being friends. Not like hang-out-braid-each-others-hair-gossip-about-boys friends but normal people, who are cordial."

"I guess we could try it. The alternative hasn't worked all that well so far."

He stuck out his hand and I shook it. "Is this how you thought you'd be spending your ball? On the floor with me?"

I laughed pathetically. "Oh Merlin, please don't remind me."

"What happened with the dreamboat? Is he why you were crying?"

"He got back together with his ex. And I actually _encouraged_ him. It's stupid of me to get all worked up but I really liked him."

"Who was his ex again?"

"Ariana Overin. You know her?"

"Merlin, yes, she's like the hottest girl in the entire- Sorry... She's not _that_ hot."

"Apparently she is."

"Hey, you'd probably be a real nice catch for some guy out there. You're pretty smart and you're probably… nice or something."

"Inspiring pep talk," I said, chuckling weakly. It was weird how I could tell Malfoy about my issues and not my friends. I think talking to someone outside your group helps sometimes. I just can't believe its Malfoy I'm talking to.

"So what happened to your date?" I asked.

"Oh, she was crazy. Tried to hex me cause she thought I was staring at another girl and then tried to hex me again cause she thought I was trying to make a move on her. Both were untrue. So I sought refuge out here."

"Scorpius Malfoy. Hiding from a girl."

"You are in no position to judge, Weepy."

"Wait til we watch _Titanic_! I'm going to be crying all over you. You might want to cover your golden coffee tables and silk-lined, hand embroidered lounge chairs in your tea room cause I am going to sob up a storm."

"First of all, it's a _manor_, not a mansion. Second of all, have we decided we're watching it at my place?"

"Do you have a TV?"

"Yeah, it's pretty old and we don't use it often but my mum likes to have it around in case she's in a mood for a movie."

"Then let's do it at your place. I'd rather not have to introduce you to my family. By the end of the assignment my Grandma Molly will be calling me accusing me of getting married to the Malfoy boy." He shot me an inquisitive look. "I've got a big family. They talk."

"Yeah, cause the introductions at my house would be so much smoother."

"True…This is going to be a disaster, isn't it?"

"It'll certainly be interesting." There was a pause, then Malfoy said, "Well, are you heading back in or calling it a night?"

I pondered it for a second and then said, "I think I'll call it a night."

"Yeah same," he yawned and then jumped up. He helped me up on to my feet and I grabbed my shoes.

As we were walking through the halls and I was thinking about how weird the situation was, we accidentally walked in on a couple snogging intensely in the hall.

"Oh! Sorry!" I said, averting my eyes.

"Sorry, carry on," Malfoy. But then he did a double take. "_Cam_?"

Upon closer inspection I realized the couple consisted of Cameron Wright and Andrea Singer. _My_ Andie.

"Rose, Scorpius?" Cameron said, surprised.

"_Andie_?" I was shocked.

We all stood perplexed, staring at each other in confusion.

"What?" we all said in unison.

I sat in the common room with Andie as she explained herself.

"Has this been going on long?"

"About a week," she said, looking ashamed.

"How did it happen? When did you guys even start hanging out? And most importantly, _why didn't you tell me_?"

"I don't know we started talking after class one day and before I knew it we were meeting up every day, just hanging out. And he's just really cool and _so_ _sweet_ and we just connected. I can't explain it."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"We weren't telling anyone cause it's still so new, we haven't labeled it or anything yet. And I especially didn't want to tell you because he's Malfoy's best friend and after he said all that stuff a few weeks ago you've been even more angry with him. I didn't think you'd understand why I'd want to be with his friend."

I paused for a moment, taking it all in. "You're right, I don't understand it. But that's just cause it's such a surprise. If I had known, even known you liked him, I would be able to cope with the weirdness. But first and foremost, Andie, you're my best friend. I want you to be happy, I don't care if it's with Malfoy's friend as long as you like him."

Andie looked relieved. "Thank Merlin. I'm glad." She hugged me gratefully. "Don't worry, I won't make us all hang out, you won't have to see Malfoy any more than usual."

"Actually, Malfoy and I are on okay ground. Not that I want to be third-wheeling with him all the time." I said warningly.

Just then, Al and Frank came through the portrait hole.

"Andie, Cameron Wright is outside asking to see you," Al said looking extremely perplexed.

Andie blushed, which was pretty out of character. "I'll be right back," she said, rushing outside.

"What the bloody hell is that about?" Frank said, looking at the portrait hole Andie had just left through.

"_Cameron_ and _Andie_ have been _secretly_ _dating_," I said, every word saturated in intrigue.

"What!" Frank said, looking shocked.

"I walked in on them _snogging_!"

"I didn't even knew they knew each other," Al said.

Frank was sputtering. He looked utterly furious. I never really saw him mad like this. I saw him worried and nervous and depressed but he rarely lost his temper. It seemed like the wrong emotion given the circumstances. "They're secretly dating? What is this, some Muggle soap opera?"

"Yeah, why didn't she tell us?" Al said, sitting down on the couch. I followed suit.

"Why is she even dating him? He's so arrogant, sometimes I think he's worse than Malfoy. At least Malfoy has a sense of humor, Wright is always just so stiff and haughty. Is it serious? What could she possibly see in him?" Frank raged.

"We don't really know him that well, she must've seen something she liked," I said reasonably.

Andie came back into the room, a huge smile on her face. She closed her eyes and leaned against the portrait hole for a moment before noticing we were all staring.

"Well, I might as well tell you. Cam and I are officially dating. Like we're an actual couple."

I opened my mouth to say something but Frank beat me to it. "Have you lost your mind? Cameron Wright is a complete prick!"

Andie looked angry. "You don't even _know_ him."

Frank ignored her. "Sneaking around with him like some kind of- some kind of-"

"Some kind of _what_?"

"Frank, just give it some kind to process," Al said, trying to calm him.

"I don't get it, what do you have against Cam?" Andie said. "I like him a lot and he likes me. He's never been anything other than a perfect gentleman and a great guy." She looked sad.

"It's just- your- you shouldn't- And _he_- well"

"We're happy for you, Andie," I said interrupting Frank's twitching rant. "Now we're all going to get some sleep cause it's been a big evening." I shot Al and Frank looks which I knew they understood to mean "Get your asses out of here".

Frank looked riled up still but Al stood and grabbed his arm. Reluctantly, Frank stalked off to his room. Al shrugged and followed.

"What was that all about? He's never had a problem with anyone I've gone out with before."

I stared at where Frank had been standing. "I don't know." Personally, I thought I detected a hint of jealously but I wasn't going to say that.

Exhausted, I climbed into bed. Soon, I would be at home, enjoying Christmas with my family. I honestly couldn't wait.


	8. The Surprises That Malfoy Manor Holds

**So sorry for the immensely long wait, my computer crashed so my spirit was crushed not to mention I lost the nearly finished chapter. But it's here now, with more to come soon!**

I glanced in the mirror quickly one last time. My hair was pulled back into it's typical do: half-up, half-down. I was just wearing my cozy blue sweater, favorite scarf and jeans. I wanted to look presentable but not like I was trying too hard or anything. Not that I even cared whether or not I looked like I was trying too hard. Whatever, it's not a big deal!

With a "what else can you do" shrug, I walked out of my room and shuffled down the stairs. I wished the house was empty to avoid the inevitable awkward conversation but there seemed to be even more people than normal. Al and Hugo were playing wizard's chess in the living room and Frank was languidly flipping through what looked like a copy of _Witch Weekly_. My mother, Aunt Ginny and Lily were at the kitchen counter chatting and my dad, Neville and Uncle Harry were at the table eating. Frank's younger sister, Elizabeth, was visible bundled outside on the veranda, painting. We had a lovely oak tree and a little creek that ran through our backyard and that was currently draped in a layer of snow. Elizabeth was very artistic and quite talented.

Saturdays were often like this, with various friends and family drifting through the house throughout the day. I sighed, trying to move inconspicuously towards the fireplace in the living room.

"I'm going to work on my project so see-you-all-later-bye!" I said quickly, grabbing a fistful of Floo Powder.

"Wait," said Frank, slapping his magazine down, "you mean the one with _Malfoy_?"

I swear my father has a sixth sense when it comes to me and boys. Particularly the fact that the boy in question is Draco Malfoy's son. He popped his head around the corner, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"Rosie? What's this about?"

"I have to go do a project… with… a… classmate. I told Mum about it. It's not a big deal."

"You're going to the Malfoys' house, for a project? What kind of project?" He folded his arms.

By now more people were filing into the room. Aunt Ginny and Lily were wearing identical smirks but Uncle Harry and Neville looked a little disturbed.

"Ok everyone shut it, I'm leaving." I said, throwing the Floo Powder and announcing "Malfoy Manor!" Before I was transported I could hear Al saying "Give my best to the manor!" in a mock aristocratic, haughty voice.

I coughed a little bit, dusting off and waving the ash away from my face. When the air cleared, I found myself in a stately study, the walls lined with ancient looking tomes and Malfoy perched on a leather armchair, a book in hand. Upon my arrival, he snapped the book shut and placed it on the large, regal desk on the other side of the room. Malfoy wore a long-sleeved, black shirt and dark jeans, looking incredibly put together as always. I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, suddenly self-conscious and wondering if I was covered in Floo Powder.

"Weasley. Took you long enough," he said, eyeing a grandfather clock which was claiming I was two minutes past our scheduled time.

"Like you have anything better to do," I said rolling my eyes.

Malfoy opened his mouth to say something but seemed to decide against it and instead gestured for us to leave the room. As we exited to the hall we found ourselves in strange territory. We've never really had to make polite small talk before.

"How was your Christmas?" I asked.

"Perfectly satisfactory," he said, all business. We were acting oddly formal. "My parents had my broom repaired and it's flying better than ever so that's encouraging." He sighed pompously. "Makes it all the more likely Ravenclaw is going to _destroy_ Hufflepuff at the next match."

"I wouldn't count on it, my brother has been practicing literally everyday the weather permits."

"Yeah, well some have to practice, others…are just naturally gifted," he said condescendingly. "And of course some can't even manage no matter how hard they try." He aimed a pointed look at me.

"Funny," I said sarcastically.

A woman emerged from around the corner. Malfoy's mother was extremely beautiful, with silky dark hair and Malfoy's same aquamarine eyes. She had an air of sophistication and elegance to her but there was a warmth to her smile too.

"Hello, you must be Rose? I'm Astoria, it's such a pleasure to meet you." She shook my hand excitedly.

Malfoy looked embarrassed, he was rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Mother, that will be all, thank you."

"Oh, darling, I'm sorry but you just so rarely have friends over," she smiled widely at me, "And never any _girls_!"

"Mum! Thank you! You can go now!" Malfoy's tone was increasingly irritated and embarrassed.

"Don't be such a drama queen," Mrs. Malfoy said, grinning. "Honestly, this one. So serious, so dramatic."

"Tell me about it," I said.

"Well, listen, the movie's all set up. Let me know if you guys need anything." There was something disturbingly suggestive about her tone.

As we walked towards the stairs, I glanced at the portraits on the wall. "Malfoy ancestors, I presume?" I asked, gesturing up to the moving images of pale, pointed faces, sneering down at me.

Malfoy glanced up, "Yes, careful not to provoke them. They can be quite nasty."

"Well I see where you get it from then."

We climbed the stairs and I could hear a portrait exclaiming in the distance, "Talking to young Master Malfoy like that in his own manor. A guest behaving so!"

"How long has your family lived here?" I asked, intrigued. The manor was in amazing condition but looked incredibly old.

"About twenty years or so?" He didn't look at me as he continued. "After the war, my father denounced my grandfather Lucius and left the original Malfoy Manor for good. A few years later, when my grandfather died, my father inherited the fortune and bought this place when he married my mum." He paused and stopped at the top of the landing, exhaling and looking me in the eyes. "I-I wouldn't have had you come over if this- if we still lived in _that_ place. I mean, I couldn't live there knowing what had taken place but I would especially never…" he broke off, looking at me with such intensity I almost had to look away. I couldn't recall ever having such an honest and respectful conversation with him. I also couldn't recall anytime he had ever seemed so nervous.

All I could say was, "I know." Which seems like a pretty stupid thing to say considering the whole reason we got off to such a bad start was because of my jumping to conclusions of that very nature.

He cleared his throat and we proceeded awkwardly.

"So, where's your room?" I said, moving on.

"First to the left, but it's irrelevant."

"No! I want to see!" I said, darting off towards the room and opening the door.

"Weasley," Malfoy said, irritably, following me into the room.

His room was unnaturally clean, though I suppose that would be the work of the legion of house elves that undoubtedly worked here. It was primarily black and white, his bed had silky black covers and several black and white pillows adorning it. There was a Ravenclaw tapestry on one wall and a gorgeous dark bookshelf and matching desk. I would've loved to have perused the bookshelf and see what Malfoy read but three wizard pictures on the desk caught my eye. The first was of him, probably around age 12, with his mother outside what looked like a cathedral.

"France," Malfoy said shortly.

The next frame held a more recent photo of him with some of his Ravenclaw friends, including Cam. They were laughing in their Hogwarts robes and Malfoy looked so jovial I hardly recognized him. The last photo was of a cheering, jostling crowd, with Malfoy and his father in the stands smiling and waving for the camera. Judging by the enormous stadium it looked like a World Championship match.

"Which match was this?" I asked pointing towards the picture of Malfoy and his older likeness.

"Quidditch World Cup, Germany versus Portugal."

"Oh, brilliant! I'm so jealous you got to go, that save made by Kruger?"

"I've never seen anything like it," he said, grinning.

After examining the pictures for another moment, Malfoy said "Alright Red, that's enough. Let's get a move on."

He dragged me out of the room and down the hall to where we would be watching _Titanic_. It was a spacious recreation room with various wizarding games, a couch and outdated Muggle television and a grand piano.

"Do you play?" I asked, gesturing toward the piano.

"This isn't a _play-date_, Weasley. Stop deviating from the plan, it doesn't matter if I play or not."

"That's a yes," I said cheerily, pushing him towards the bench.

"Thirty seconds. Nothing more," he said, irritated. He laid his fingers across the keys and began to play. He was actually quite talented and I had to admit I was impressed. He played a melody I didn't recognize but it was lovely. And over quickly. He slammed the lid shut and turned to me, eyebrow cocked. "Are you finished? Can we get to the project?"

After the movie (I'm very proud of myself for not crying) and the paper (of course _I_ wrote it all) we made our way back downstairs. Mrs. Malfoy emerged from the kitchen in an apron, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"Rose, will you be staying for dinner?" she asked genially.

"No, no thank you. I couldn't impose," I said quickly. Several hours with Malfoy was more than I could take.

"Are you sure? It's really no imposition. In fact, we'd really enjoy it. Scorpius's father is out of town this week and we would love the company."

"Mum." Scorpius's teeth were gritted.

"Really, dear, I insist," she said, smiling warmly.

The fact that Draco Malfoy wouldn't be present was a major selling point. Plus I'm not known to refuse food. "Well, alright. Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy," I said shly.

"Oh, call me Astoria, of course!" she hurried off to the kitchen, her heels clicking on the marble floor.

Malfoy looked over to me with raised eyebrows.

I shrugged. "She seemed so excited."

Just then, a fluffy grey cat darted in front of us and I nearly tripped over him. Malfoy stuck his arm out to prevent me from falling.

"That would be Erasmus," he said.

I snickered. "You are such a nerd."

I placed the last dish in the cupboard, glancing at the clock. It was late. Everyone would be wondering where I was.

"Thank you so much for dinner Astoria. It was amazing," I said. I loved Malfoy's mom. She was so funny and we had a startling amount of things in common. We had a lot of similar interests, in both wizarding and Muggle things. And she worked in the same department at the Ministry as my mother. Her fascination and excitement over Muggles rivaled my Granddad Weasley. Malfoy did not seemed pleased with our bonding, he was huffing and puffing all through dinner. I was surprised that Astoria did all the cooking as I assumed she would have people or elves to do that for her but she said she preferred to do it herself. They had a beloved family house elf who did the cleaning but she had nights off. Mum would be pleased.

"Rose, it was such a pleasure meeting you. Please come back anytime," Astoria said. Malfoy snorted. "And send me that book! It sounds great."

"Oh I will definitely owl you." Astoria and I had agreed to correspond, much to Malfoy's horror.

After one last thanks to Astoria, Malfoy escorted me back to the study.

"Well, enjoy the rest of your holiday," he said awkwardly.

"Yeah, see you in school." I replied. Not knowing how to leave things, I just sort of gave an uncomfortable little wave, grabbed the Floo powder and stepped into the fireplace.


	9. Malfoy, the Stupid Hero

** Quick little chapter, from Scorpius's perspective! **

One cold January morning before a Quidditch match I sat at the Ravenclaw table with Xavier and a canoodling Cam and Andie. I was really happy for Cam and Andie was cool enough but it's pretty much never fun to always be around an affectionate couple. I took a sip of my tea and perused my copy of the _Daily Prophet_, trying not to take note of the PDA going on next to me.

I was startled to find that Weasley plopped herself down on the other side of me. She had her hair messily thrown up and her Gryffindor scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Weasley, Andie is over there," I said gesturing to my other side where Cam and Andie were cuddling.

"Actually, Malfoy, I've come to talk to you," she said. There was something unnerving about her smile. "Rigby just brought me the most interesting letter from Astoria." She held up a letter that unmistakably featured my mother's handwriting.

The fact that my mother was befriending Weasley sickened me. I don't often let my school and home lives intertwine. Despite the fact that my friends know me and don't judge me for my family's past, I still hesitate to invite people over. Cameron's the only one who's been to my house and met my parents. And now my mum adores Weasley and won't shut up about her. Not to mention I shudder to think of what Weasley's saying to her.

"Are you really that starved for friendship that you have to talk to my mother?" I snapped.

Weasley ignored this and continued. "We've been recommending books and music to each other. And she's been telling me the most _charming_ stories of your childhood."

"I'm just going to channel my annoyance into today's match and crush Hufflepuff."

Rose's younger brother, Hugo, was the Hufflepuff Seeker. Despite his awkward, lanky form he was quite fast and a good Seeker. However, he doesn't compare to our Seeker Craig McGuinnes.

Laughing, Weasley stood. "Come on, Andie. Lines are being drawn. I'm in Quidditch mode now, the Ravenclaws are officially our opponents."

Andie whined. "Rose, Gryffindor isn't even playing."

"No, but both our brothers are. Besides, Ravenclaw can't win if Gryffindor's going to have a shot at the Cup."

"That's right," I said haughtily. "Ravenclaw has been on fire this season. Mostly because no Chaser can get anything past me."

Standing and kissing Cam's head, Andie said, "I don't get your guy's fascination with this game."

Cam said, "_Game_?" at the same time Weasley said, "It's a sport!" and I said, "It's more than a _game_!"

I sat on my Clean Sweep Whisk, hovering around the goal posts. Ravenclaw was up by thirty, but Hufflepuff did seem to be on their game. The Chasers were certainly giving me a workout.

I glanced towards the stands, something I don't often do, as I'm required to keep an eye on the Quaffle at all times, and somehow made eye contact with Weasley. She was with her cousins and Longbottom and she smirked at me. Startled that I let my attention get diverted, I turned back towards the game.

My childhood friend, Harrison Quibble, who was a Beater for Hufflepuff, was poised to whack a Bludger nearby. As it came speeding towards him he took aim and sent it flying towards one of our Chasers, Jeremiah Williams. Jeremiah narrowly dodged the oncoming Bludger but which a _thawack! _it collided with Hugo Weasley, who had been behind him. It was a nasty blow and Hugo was knocked off his broom, sent plummeting to the hard earth below.

Without thinking, I dived forward on my Whisk, caught him in my arms and hoisted him onto my broom. Then, as the adrenaline faded and I realized what had just transpired, I felt like a complete idiot. Of course the teachers and Madam Hooch wouldn't have let him fall to his death. The stadium had fell quiet and the even the players were staring. I could not feel more awkward, and that feeling was reflected on every face looking back at me. Even unconscious Hugo looked awkward. I almost considered just dropping him, but before I could do so, there was another _crack!_ and everything went dark.

When I awoke in the hospital wing, night had fallen. Feeling thoroughly embarrassed and angry, I sat up and took in my surroundings. Hugo was lying in a bed across the room, a few people sat by his bedside. I was thankful he was asleep, I didn't fancy having that conversation. _Hi, I know we've never met but today I felt compelled to catch you in my arms and heave you on my broom. Tea?_

As I glanced to my other side, I saw Weasley, the female Weasley, dozing by my bedside. Shocked and unsure of what to do, I sat up further. My movement roused her and she blinked a few times before realizing where she was.

She shifted in her seat so that she was kind of leaning towards me. "You're awake," she said. Her expression was infuriatingly difficult to read.

"What time is it?" I asked. She was in Muggle clothes and it was dark out so I must have been out for several hours.

"Seven," she said. "Madam Spore fixed the two of you up and gave you both Sleeping Draughts. She wants to keep you overnight, make sure you're completely recovered."

"And the match?"

"Craig caught the Snitch right after Hugo took that Bludger to the head." She was looking at me curiously. "You didn't have to do that, by the way. They would've let him fall. I appreciate it, of course, it was a really lovely gesture. I just don't really understand your motivation behind it."

I looked at her. Actually _looked_ at her, something I don't think I often do. She was paler than even I, and little freckles punctuated her skin. Her hair, which was still in it's messy bun, had a few curls cascading out of it and looked redder than ever in the candlelight. Her eyebrows were furrowed with concern, the hazel eyes beneath them flickering uncertainly between green and brown. Her nose and mouth were petite, her lips a little thin but overall pleasant. And she, I couldn't help but notice, as she leaned towards me in her V-neck sweater, had a surprisingly sumptuous figure.

I couldn't tell if my years-long annoyance with Weasley had made me biased and warped my perception of her appearance or if she had actually gotten better looking. Or maybe it was just this dim lighting and my head trauma.

"I have no idea what got into me, I just reacted," I said, getting my head out of the clouds and back in the conversation. "It was a reflex."

She continued to give me that same strange look.

"Better question," I said, "is what are you doing by my bedside and not your brother's?"

I thought I could see a faint blush cross her cheeks. "I _was,_ all day. But when I came back from dinner, your friends had left and you were all alone. You just looked so pathetic and lonely, my gentle spirit got the best of me. Plus I owed it to you, after today."

"So you took it upon yourself to keep my vigil?" I said, my tone skeptical.

"Sorry if I'm _bothering_ you. I just wanted to say thank you, so thank you for looking out for my brother. Even if you didn't do it on purpose." Before I could say anything else she stood, picked up her book bag and strode away. She stopped by Hugo's bed, kissed his forehead and bade goodbye to the people gathered around him. She glanced at me again, briefly, before exiting the hospital wing.


	10. Birthday Girl

I laid out on the grass by the lake, under a magnificent tree, absorbing the sun's rays for the first time in months. O.W.L.s had completely wiped me out. I literally was dragging myself along, barely conscious towards the end of it.

I felt as good as I could, I guess. I can't be sure how it went 'til I get the scores. I mean, Potions is never my strongest and I accidentally overheated my Forgetfulness Potion and I completely blanked during one section of Arithmancy, but the rest of them weren't too rough.

Now that those were behind me and I had a chance to properly sleep and eat again, it was glorious to revel in the spring. We would be leaving for home in a few days and it was nice to just enjoy Hogwarts worry-free, because that was a rare phenomenon.

Al, Frank and I had camped out by the tree with some food generously given to us by the house-elves in the kitchen and had ourselves a lovely afternoon. We weren't seeing all that much of Andie these days, as she was occupied with her boyfriend. I get it and all, she's "in love" or whatever. It's just irritating being constantly deserted, or worse, not deserted and having to endure the PDA.

Frank and Al were playing Exploding Snap and I was sprawled out reading when said the aforementioned couple approached us.

"Uh oh, here comes Candie," I said, grinning at my cleverness to Al and Frank.

"Don't call them that," they said in unison.

Andie cheerfully sat down beside us, her blonde hair wrapped in a chain of flowers. She caught me glancing at them and explained that she and Cam had just made them.

Ok, that's a little too much.

Cam joined her and they snuggled up together. I made eye contact with Al, who made a similar grossed out face. We both glanced at Frank. To the untrained eye, aka those who didn't grow up with him, Frank looked fine. However, Al and I recognized the storm brewing beneath the calm.

It had become apparent in the months since Christmas that Frank had a major problem with Cam and Andie. Al wasn't so quick to believe it was purely out of romantic jealousy, but I was certain at this point that he must harbor feelings for her. And my track record in sensing these matters is more impressive than Al's (it's perfect, thanks, no, it's not a big deal.).

"Rose, I actually have a question for you," said Cam.

I looked over at him, surprised. Cam and I aren't all that close. "Fire away."

"It's about your birthday party."

For my sixteenth birthday, my parents insisted we throw together something big and fun. Since most of the family's birthdays fall in the school year they agreed to take advantage of my August birth and throw one big celebration. But I made sure to clarify that it was still _my_ birthday party and not some kind of shared nonsense.

Anyways, my birthday has always been a pretty small affair, so this year I've invited a load of people from school, not to mention the entire family, which is quite a number of people. Obviously I invited Andie and, by extension, Cam.

"Feel free to say no, you're under no obligation whatsoever," he said. I wracked my brains, trying to think of what this could possibly concern. "But the thing is, the week of your birthday, Scorpius is actually going to be staying at my house. So I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind me bringing him? Again, I get it if you don't want to."

I admit, I didn't see that coming. Malfoy…at my house…with my _family_…on my birthday. Frank's expression screamed _"The nerve of this guy!"_ However, I was strangely calm. Without really thinking about it, I said, "Sure, Cam. That's fine."

"Really? Are you sure, cause it's not a big deal. I just thought I'd ask."

"Yeah, it's ok. I don't care and there'll be lots of people there from school so he'll have plenty of people to interact with."

Al, Frank and Andie all looked surprised.

"Should be interesting…" said Al, turning back to the game of Snap.

A card exploded in front of them. "Yeah, probably something resembling that," Frank mumbled.

A few months later, the day of the party had arrived. I helped my mum set up tables and decorations in our backyard in preparation for the party. With a final flourish of her wand, the centerpieces appeared out of thin air and she dismissed me to go get ready.

As I made my way through the house, the fireplace lit up and one by one the Potter family emerged. Uncle Harry gave me a big hug and wished me a very happy birthday.

Aunt Ginny kissed me on the top of my head and said, "Rose, you get more and more gorgeous every day."

"Merlin, she looks like Hermione," said Uncle Harry, tilting his head and looking at me.

"You sure you got your glasses on Harry?" said my dad, emerging from the other room. "I'm pretty sure she gets her good looks from me," he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Alright, alright. Leave me be. I have to go make myself presentable," I said and ran up the stairs to my room, Lily close behind me.

"What are you going to wear?" she asked, perusing my closet. She looked cute, as always, in fashionable little shorts, a floaty blouse and wedge sandals. Her long, dark red hair was pulled up in a fancy ponytail. What was fancy about it? Don't ask me, I couldn't tell you. I just know that when I pull my hair into a ponytail it never looks that good.

"I hadn't thought about it," I said truthfully. "What's the big deal?"

She looked exasperated. "Being in public should be enough," she mumbled. "But it's your birthday and there are going to be hot guys here so you should obviously look your best!"

"Hot guys…?"

"Nevermind that." She rifled through all my clothes until she pulled out an eyelet white sundress. "What's this?"

"Well it's a dress."

"'You're wearing it," she said, tossing at my face. "None of these shoes will do," she said frowning at my comfortable tennis shoes and sensible flats. She looked down at her own cute shoes. "I'm going to get my mom to transfigure these to fit your gigantic feet. There's not enough time to do everything that needs to be done!" She looked at me like I was a completely hopeless cause. She ignored my offended face and rushed out of the room mumbling, "I need help, why are there so few women around?" I got into my dress and was tying it in the back when there was a knock at my door. Elizabeth Longbottom popped her head in and said, "Lily's sent me up to help with your make-up."

I rolled my eyes and beckoned her in. "She's concerned." I glanced in the mirror. "Ah, but rightfully so."

Elizabeth laughed and sat me down on the bed, pulled out a little purse and did a bunch of stuff to my face. I couldn't really tell what was happening but the end product was pretty good.

"Wow, thanks! Good job." I said.

Elizabeth smiled. She was completely adorable, her hair was brown like Frank's and wavy, she had stunning green eyes and freckles across her nose. "No problem. And happy birthday!"

Hugo came through the door next, his ears red. "Hey, Elizabeth. When did you guys get here?" My brother had had a massive crush on Elizabeth for as long as anyone could remember.

"Hey, Hutch, I'm here too you know. I'm only the _birthday girl_."

Elizabeth laughed, "We only got here a minute ago, I got immediately whisked in to help with the preparation."

"Thank Merlin," Hugo joked. My family likes to make fun of me and my appearance and it's _super hilarious_. "People are starting to arrive though, Rose, you should probably get downstairs," he said as Lily tore back into the room, dragging my cousin Victorie behind her and holding a pair of my shoes to transfigured for her own feet. She tossed her shoes at me (ouch) and insisted Victorie do my hair before I went anywhere.

"I think I'm insulted by all the effort going into this," I said as Victorie pulled out her wand and murmured under her breath until it was twisted up in a pretty up do. It was intricate and there were little curls framing my face.

"Thanks," I said, admiring it in the mirror. Victorie was probably the most gorgeous person I'd ever seen so I trusted her with beauty stuff. She had perfect, porcelain skin that was somehow an elegant and delicate pale rather than my pasty variation. Her eyes were large and clear blue, framed by thick and lustrous lashes. Her silky, silvery blonde hair was done up, the front of it braided back. A shiny engagement ring glistened on her finger and she was positively glowing.

I was thrilled Victorie and Teddy were getting married. They made an incredibly adorable couple, for one. Plus, ever since they had gotten together, Victorie had become a much more pleasant person. I mean, I had always loved her but she had been a bit serious and sometimes surly. Once she got with Teddy, she really came out of her shell and revealed herself to actually be a pretty fun person.

Once Lily deemed me presentable, I headed downstairs with the crew that had been brought in to make me over. Several guests had arrived, including my cousins Molly and Lucy and their respective boyfriends. Molly ran over to me and scooped me up into a hug, spinning me around. She somehow lifted me, despite being very small and much shorter than me. Molly was five years my senior and the most boisterous and mischievous person in the family. Unlce Percy remains befuddled by her to this day, as she takes far more after my Uncle George than her own father. She's been working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes since she finished school and absolutely loves it. Molly's boyfriend, Micah Edwards, who designs and manufactures broomsticks (pretty much the coolest job ever) just smiled at me and waved. It was all he could do considering I was still under attack from Molly.

"Rosie Posie!" she said, her bobbed red hair swinging. "I can't believe you're getting so _old_. I think I see a gray hair!" She jerked me down to eye level inspecting my head.

"Molly, honestly, let her be," said Lucy, pulling me away and into a gentle hug. Lucy was one of the cousins I was least close to, but we always got along well. She was serious and studious, a Slytherin, with her sights set on a high level Minsitry position, leaving little time for frivolity. You can imagine how Uncle Percy feels about her. She takes after her mother looks wise though, with dirty blonde hair, angular features and electric blue eyes. Her steady boyfriend, Marcus Bloom, stood silently by her side, a pleasant but shy expression on his face.

Molly's button nose wrinkled. "I smell food," she dragged Micah away and Lucy and Marcus followed, wishing me a happy birthday on their way. I made my way through a growing crowd towards the backyard. Lights were strung up all around and I'm sure it would look even lovelier after sunset.

My parents throw pretty awesome get togethers. My mum is great at the organization and set-up and my dad's energy and likeability keeps the party going.

I stepped down into the garden, careful not to fall in my heels, to make the rounds, visiting with all the people I had to see. James and Dominique were standing off to the side so I decided to start with them.

James stood laughing, his arms folded and his dark hair falling in his face all handsome-like. Dom looked lovely in a sundress, her long sandy blonde hair cascading down her back and a too-tan-to-be-a-Weasley skin golden in the sun. A huge grin broke out across her face upon seeing me.

"There's the birthday girl!" She hugged me tightly. "You look gorgeous, Rose!" There was a definite tone of surprise there.

"Thanks," I said chuckling. "How's your summer been, I've barely seen you at all!" I said.

"Mostly dealing with the wedding stuff," she grumbled. "Victorie's been pretty laid back about it but my mum and Grandma have turned into drill sergeants. Well, more so than normal," she said.

"Training for Quidditch a lot too, I hear?" James, Dom, Roxanne, Jacob Thomas and Peter Longbottom were all on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Roxanne is an extraordinary Seeker, we all expect her to go pro after school. James and Dom are Chasers (along with Brian Fletcher), Peter's the Keeper and Jake is a Beater.

"Yeah, we've all been practicing as much as possible."

"I know, I've barely seen Al. You guys are hogging him," I said, huffing.

"You know with Peter leaving there's going to be an open Keeper position next year! We can get him the spot. I just want as many Potter-Weasleys on the team as possible. One year of an entire team of Potter-Weasleys, it would be epic," James said.

"We'll unfortunately Jake isn't _actually_ part of the family," I said. Jake was the burly and handsome son of our parent's old school friend Dean Thomas. He had been friends with James, Dom and Roxie long before Hogwarts, but these days they were absolutely inseparable.

"Technicality," said James, waving his hand, like he was physically brushing off my comment. "Plus, I'm planning on him marrying one of you guys so it is official."

"Not it," Dom said quickly.

Just then, Roxie and Jake came up, joining us. They each wished me a happy birthday and hugged me. Roxie was the feisty one. Always one to speak her mind, she was incredibly fun to have around. As a youth, I had a bit of a crush on Jake, so I was still a little intimidated around him and probably blushed against my will when James mentioned one of us marrying him.

"Not it for what?" Jake said, looking curious.

"Marrying you," said Dom straightforwardly.

"I'm trying to get one of them to marry you so our legendary bromance can evolve into being legitimate family," James said. "Worked for our dads," James said gesturing to me.

"What do you mean 'trying to get', aren't they all fighting over me?"

"That's what I thought, mate. They just apparently don't see what I see. Or at least Dom doesn't."

Dom raised her hands up to her chest as if to say "Sorry 'bout it."

"What do you say, Roxie? Wanna marry me?" Jake said. Even though I don't like him anymore and my crush was ages ago, he still was exceedingly charming, particularly in that moment. He was looking down at Roxie, a sexy smirk on his face.

Roxie shrugged. "I dunno, what am I getting out of it?"

Jake gawked. Gesturing to his impressive physique, he said, "Helllllooo?"

Roxie looked impassive. "You'd have to charm me."

"You want me to woo you?" Jake said, looking eager to take on the challenge. Roxie just raised her eyebrows, clearly daring him.

"You just wait." Grinning, he turned and ran off. We all exchanged looks.

"Rose! Speaking of wooing, guess who's coming today?" James said, excitedly. Dom and Roxie excused themselves, clearly sick of the subject and went off to say hello to Peter.

My thoughts immediately turned to Malfoy for some reason, but I knew that was obviously not to whom James referring to. I highly doubted Malfoy was even coming though, I can't imagine why he'd want to be at my birthday party.

"Who? You invited someone to my birthday?" He ignored my weirded out expression.

"Nicole! She agreed to come! I am so close, seriously. She is _this close_ to falling for me."

"Congratulations, it only took you like five years. What makes you think you're succeeding?" I said.

"We've finally had a few real conversations," James said. He stepped a little closer and ran a hand along his neck, a sheepish grin crossed his face. "I know before it was all kind of just a challenge and I was trying to prove something…but getting to know her…She's incredible, Rose, really. She's so smart and determined and compassionate. I actually do like her, a lot. If she rejects me now, I think it's actually gonna hurt," he said, chuckling softly.

"I'm glad, James. I hope it works out for you. I'm sure she wouldn't come to your family gathering if she wasn't developing feelings for you too. Just be honest and vulnerable like you are now. Girls go crazy for that nonsense!"

Just then, music filled the backyard. James and I turned to see an orchestra of instruments playing themselves and a little cleared off area for dancing. Jake was standing proudly next to the instruments, bowing and asking Roxie for a dance.

I've never seen my cousin flustered before. Roxanne Weasley just doesn't get flustered. She's as confident as they come, but now she looked so surprised she didn't even have a witty retort or a joke to make. Jake seemed to have stunned her into accepting and soon they were dancing to everyone's applause. Well, Uncle George was squinting at Jake, looking irritated but everyone else seemed to be enjoying it. Some people even joined them on the dance floor. Molly and Micah were engaging in an exuberant and rather violent dance far too fast paced for the slow, romantic tune the instruments are bewitched to play, provoking Uncle Percy to promptly drag them off the dance floor.

James invited me to dance and I accepted, despite the fact that I am an abysmal dancer. James was quite good, however, so he almost camouflaged my clumsiness. Aunt Ginny made it a priority that her sons knew how to dance and it paid off. Teddy and Victorie were dancing nearby, Victorie's head resting on his chest. Teddy was very tall and thin with mousy brown hair that was bright red for the occasion. He grinned at me, mouthed, "Happy birthday" and I gave a little wave.

I notice my parents are also dancing, and smile. My dad kept spinning my mum around and dipping her when she least expects it and she was flapping her arms and telling him to stop. Frank was being dragged out onto the dance area by his youngest sister, Alice. Alice was a sweet and enthusiastic thirteen year-old, with straight blonde hair and a friendly round face. When she saw me, she broke off from Frank and shimmied in between me and James, swiping his position as my dance partner. James shrugged, tried to dance with Frank, who shoved him away, and left the dance floor laughing. Alice was smiling widely, she had the kind of smile that took over her whole face so you could barely see her eyes.

"Happy birthday, Rose!" she said giggling.

"Thanks, Alice," I said to my much smaller dance partner. Frank picked her up and carried her away from me, then returned to dance with me himself. His hair had grown out long and curly over the summer and his face had lost some of the baby fat and the overall effect was very pleasant. He still had the same ears that stuck out, but he had really come into his own. I know he had a rough summer, Peter had moved out and he was still hung up on Andie and Cam. I gave him a bone-crushing hug, suddenly overwhelmed with affection for my best friend.

"Ow ok, Rose, I think you're good. I think you've successfully shattered my bones…and there go my vital organs," I broke off, grinning at him. "Hey, birthday girl," he said softly.

"Hey," I smiled. We danced badly until the song ended and Jake transfigured the orchestra into rock instruments. We then proceeded to dance around crazily like total dorks and more people filled out the dance floor. Al joined us and we all tried to outdo each other in inventing the most ridiculous dance moves.

I loked back towards the door mid-dance and saw Andie coming into the backyard, followed by Cam and Malfoy. I immediately stopped impersonating a marionette and Al and Frank turned to see what I was staring at.

Andie rushed over to me, beaming, and hugged me excitedly. "Happy birthday! The place looks great!"

"Thanks," I said. Cam and Malfoy stood awkwardly nearby. Cam waved sheepishly and Malfoy seemed to be wondering why he came.

"I'm gonna go put our present on the table over there, be right back," Andie said, scurrying off, Cam close behind her.

"They got a joint present are you kidding me?" Frank mumbled under his breath.

Malfoy held up a wrapped package of his own, looking supremely uncomfortable. "I got you something as well," he blushed. He _blushed_! Ha! "It's a book. Flitwick mentioned to me that it would be useful for N.E.W.T Charms, but it's not on the required list. I thought you might want it." He sounded embarrassed.

"Well thanks for telling me what it is and robbing me of the joy of opening it," I said. "But, thank you actually! That'll be great! You didn't have to do that, thank you."

Malfoy shrugged and said, "No problem. How'd you do on your O.?"

"Not bad, " I said, immediately reverting into competitive school mode. "Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic, Defense and Muggle Studies all O's. E's in Astronomy, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures and A's in Potions and Arithmancy. You?"

"O's for Defense, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies. Oh and Charms. And Transfiguration, Astronomy and Herbology were E's. And an A in History of Magic."

We both sort of paused to size each other up. I think we were both mentally comparing our scores. Even, except I'm taking one more class than him so I got one more A than him.

"I'll just go put this with the other gifts," he said, a smile twitching on his face.

As he turned and left, I found I couldn't dance anymore so I ventured over to where my cousins Fred and Louie were sitting. Recent Hogwarts graduates and new members of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, Fred and Louie did everything together.

Fred had brought his girlfriend, Chrissie Parker and Louie had brought a date as well. Both exceedingly handsome, Fred with his smooth, dark skin and Louie with windswept blonde hair and blue eyes, they were always surrounding by admiring girls. But I was so happy when Chrissie and Fred had started dating in their sixth year. Chrissie was a Muggle-born and always interesting to talk to and she and Fred were great together. Louie, however, ever the playboy, couldn't seem to settle with anyone for more than a few weeks.

Leaning back in his chair, his arm around his date, Louie said, "Red, was that the Malfoy kid? What the bloody hell is he doing here?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah that's Malfoy. It's complicated but basically I had to invite him."

"Weird," said Fred, looking uneasy.

"How's work going?" I asked.

"These past few months have been busy. I mean we're pretty low level employees, but we did overlook the suspension of the Wimbourne Wasps Beater Carl Montenegro just the other day. Excessive violence," Fred explained.

"Typical Wimbourne behavior," I said, rolling my eyes.

"But we love working there. I can't imagine having some stuffy job in like a law office or something," Louis said, shooting a pointed look at Chrissie, who had just started in the Improper Use of Magic Office.

"Oh this is awkward, since I'm making twice the Galleons you are," Chrissie said sassily.

I left them to their bantering, heading inside to survey the food selection. My Grandma Molly bombarded me on the way, hugging and kissing me over and over and telling me how proud everyone was of me. Granddad joined us, giving me a warm hug and wrapping his arm around his wife's shoulders. They both stood there, beaming at me, wrinkles around their eyes. I wonder if they knew Malfoy was here.

It then occurred to me that if I was remembering correctly, my grandma, the sweet and loving woman who had been forcing me to drink my milk for strong bones and pose for her pictures all my life, had killed Malfoy's aunt. Or I guess it would be his great-aunt? I had always considered this her badass contribution to the war I knew Bellatrix Lestrange had been a right nasty piece of work. But it got me thinking about how a mere generation separated us from that reality.

A reality in which the Malfoys and the Weasleys were on the opposite sides of a war. My grandma had killed his great-aunt. His grandfather conspired to kill my parents and uncle on multiple occasions. My mother punched his father in the face (my dad loves to tell that story). The list goes on.

I never really saw any of this when I looked at Malfoy. I saw a bloody annoying and arrogant prick, but I didn't see it because of the contempt our families held for one another. I pondered this as I turned towards the house and inside.

After stuffing my face with some appetizers, I saw Malfoy himself in the living room, standing away from the crowd, looking at the pictures above our fireplace.

On the mantelpiece stood several moving photos. One of the entire family, all the Weasleys, on my Dad's fortieth birthday, one of Hugo and I with Granddad and Grandma Granger at their house. Then there was one of my Mum, Dad and Uncle Harry at Hogwarts in their school robes. I adored the photo, they were all so young and little. And I just loved seeing my parents before they were my parents, when they were just two kids who didn't know they were in love. Then there was a lovely one of my parents kissing at their wedding and another one of Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, Neville and their old friend Luna Lovegood at Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny's wedding. Then there was an old one of the four of us, Dad, Mum, Hugo and I, on holiday in Switzerland.

The last one was of Hugo, Al, Lily, James and I from a few years ago. I think it's silly to put up on display but my dad loves it. Mum was trying to get a good picture out of us for Grandma Molly's Christmas present but naturally, no one could behave long enough for a proper picture and this outtake was particularly amusing. Hugo and Lily are harassing me, waving their arms around in a mocking little dance and I look beyond pissed. And Al is yelling at James because James keeps licking Al's face right before the flash to get a funny reaction for the picture.

Malfoy seemed to sense me watching and turned. We both walked towards each other. He had his hands clasped behind his back and I think we both were thinking how weird this was.

"Nice photos," he said, clearly at a loss for any other words. He paused and then said, "It must be so interesting, growing up in such an illustrious family."

I furrowed my brow opened my mouth to retort but Malfoy recognized my expression and stopped me. "I didn't mean it in a sarcastic or contemptuous way. I sincerely was wondering what it would be like growing up considering the most famous and respected heroes of our time just normal family. But of course, you don't know any different." He then laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."

"No, it's fine," I said, chuckling and blushing because I couldn't say that I wondered what it was like being raised by a former Death Eater. We were nervous around each other and it was bizarre.

"But we actually have very urgent business to attend to, Weasley," he said solemnly. My lips parted and eyebrows raised. "You owe me. You got to see my room, now it's your turn to give me the tour."

I blushed again. Malfoy in my room seemed like something that could only exist in a parallel universe. "It's my birthday, I don't owe you anything," I said folding my arms.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," he said, smirking. "If you don't want to show me, I'll just explore 'til I find it."

The thought of him exploring my house, which was currently filled with people predisposed to hate him, was unsettling.

Begrudgingly, I walked out of the room and towards the stairs. Malfoy followed close behind, practically skipping. We reached the last door on the left and with one last look of annoyance, I opened it.

I wish I was a) seventeen and allowed to practice magic outside school and b) an accomplished Legilimens and able to read his mind. I'm ashamed to say I was actually dying to know what he was thinking.


	11. A Guest at the Weasley House

Weasley's room was painted a pale, peaceful yellow, with light pouring through windows that faced the backyard. There was a small bed that was pressed against the wall, with bedding that featured a green, leafy-viny pattern. There were books everywhere. Stacked on the nightstand, in a bookshelf, peeking out of the closet.

"What's with the Snitches?" I asked.

There was a stuffed Snitch sitting on the bed, some tacks shaped like Snitches pinning pictures to a corkboard, an actual Snitch, which looked very old, sitting in a little holder on the bookshelf. There were other Snitch related random objects throughout the room and I didn't get it. Weasley wasn't a Quidditch player and from what I had heard, when she did play for fun she played Chaser.

"Oh, when I was little I was like, really into Snitches," she said. "Don't know why, just one of those things kids do. I thought they were really cool."

I chuckled.

"Nose down, Malfoy, I know you were obsessed with dragons when you were a kid, same thing."

In an admittedly whiny voice I said, "Stop corresponding with my mum! And no, it's not the same because dragons are freaking awesome and Snitches are about as common and numerous as freckles at this party."

With an irritated expression, I resumed observing the room.

The only thing that rivaled books and Snitch paraphernalia in quantity were pictures.

There was a corkboard covered in pictures and various keepsakes, like what looked like Quidditch tickets, a Leaky cauldron coaster, a Gryffindor banner and a Puddlemore United pin. I glanced over at Weasley, who was looking away, and smoothing down her bed. I could see her blushing and I turned back and looked at the pictures.

There was something intimate about standing in her room, looking at pictures of her childhood. There was one of her, probably about seven years old, toothless and grinning in overalls and pigtails, knee deep in a swamp, triumphantly holding up a large, dripping plant. Next to her was a waving Professor Longbottom and a sopping wet Frank who kept tripping and falling in the water. There was one of her and what I assumed was Albus as toddlers giggling and playing with a stuffed hippogriff. Another one featured Weasley, Andrea and another Gryffindor in our year, Jade, smiling down by the lake. There were pictures of her and her parents, her friends, her family but my eye was drawn to a picture, not on display but on top of a pile on the dresser.

It was her, apparently preparing for what looked like last year's Christmas Ball. She was leaning over a vanity, looking in the mirror as she put an earring in. Then, taking notice of the camera, laughed and waved her hands as if to shoo the photographer away. I watched her do this in the picture several times, contemplating.

I was struck by a feeling I couldn't really describe. Seeing her laughing and getting ready in her room was, again, strangely intimate and for some reason I was compelled to question my relationship with her. What was it about her I couldn't stand again? Because for some reason, looking at this picture, I couldn't think of why I wouldn't want to make her laugh like that or hang around her while she got ready.

I was pulled out of my disturbing and confusing reverie by her voice. "Those pictures aren't on display for a reason," she said, and I could feel her standing behind me, undoubtedly with her hands on her hips.

"What reason?" I asked, flipping through the rest of the pile.

"They're just...boring! Or stupid. They didn't make the wall, they're not the keepers." I looked back at her and she shrugged. I continued flipping through the reject pictures. There was one of her wearing a beanie and scarf, smiling in the snow, in what looked like Hogsmeade.

"This one is nice, why don't you put this up?" I asked, showing it to her.

"What? What do you mean 'nice'?"

"It's a nice picture of you," I said, exasperatedly. "You look _nice_ in it."

She looked taken aback, then scoffed and said, "I'm not gonna put a picture of _just me_ on the wall, who wants to see that?"

I rolled my eyes and continued flipping through the stack until I came across a picture that made me grin from ear to ear. Slowly, I turned around to face Weasley. She registered my smirk and looked wary.

"What?" she said.

"You said there was nothing interesting in here," I said, still grinning impishly. "I have to disagree."

"What? What is it, I haven't looked through that pile in ages!"

I turned the picture around so she could see. She immediately turned bright red. It was the picture her cousin James had taken when we kissed under the enchanted mistletoe in fourth year. She sputtered a bit but didn't say anything.

In the picture, Weasley was in the middle of panicking when I suddenly grabbed her face and kissed her. Her hands fell to her sides and eventually rested tentatively on my arms.

As she watched us kiss over and over again in the picture, transfixed in horror, I said, "You have to admire my technique. It really is some of my best work. Pity it had to be wasted on you."

This seemed to snap her out of it. "I had completely forgotten James had given that to me. I'm surprised I didn't tear it to shreds on contact."

"Couldn't part with the documentation of the best moment of your life?" I said.

I was teasing her, but the more I watched the picture move the more I became aware that we were alone, in her room, standing close. I became aware of her uncharacteristically skimpy dress and sweet smelling hair that shined red in the sunlight. I became aware of the sensation in my stomach I could only compare to pre-exam stress.

She snatched the picture from me and tore it cleanly down the middle. "There."

"Come on, Weasley," I said, picking up the pieces off the ground and stuffing them in my pocket, holding her back as she tried to stop me. "You know that was the best kiss you've ever had. You can't tell me _Gene Spry_ was a good snog."

She looked defiant for a moment but then broke, laughing into her hands. "It was unbearable, snogging him. So… aggressive with his tongue," she said, miming gagging. "But it doesn't mean kissing you was any better! Just because you were more…skilled," she said blushing and looking away, "doesn't mean I had forgotten it was _you_ I was kissing."

"I could change your mind," I said seductively, stepping towards her.

"No you couldn't," she said, jutting her chin out confidently, but I could see the nervousness in her eyes. I slowly ran the back of two fingers down her arm and was dangerously close to proving her wrong and kissing her right there when she pushed my hand off and walked a few paces away.

"Before we get in an argument and do something rash to try and be proven right, let's consider the price we'd have to pay. I mean, neither of us fancy kissing the other, right?" she said. It was a rhetorical question but I stood there not so sure what my answer would be otherwise.

I coughed. "Yeah, can't let our competitiveness drive us to do something that repulsive," I said. We both chuckled half-heartedly and stood awkwardly until I spoke. "We should probably get back to the party before everyone suspects we're doing…well exactly what we were just about to do," I said, rubbing my hand across my neck.

I stood near the beverages, talking to Bonnie Quinn, a Ravenclaw in my year and Weasley's older cousin Victorie, also a Ravenclaw, about our recent Quidditch Cup win. Victorie was so composed and beautiful it was hard to believe she was related to Weasley. As I looked around at the party guests, I realized that the Weasley-Potter family was actually populated with some hot girls.

What would infuriate Weasley more than anything? If I went out with one of her cousins. And let's be honest, if I set my mind to wooing one of them, I would obviously be successful.

After I bid Victorie and Bonnie adieu, I found Alubs. I planned to survey my options, and he would inadvertently help me.

"So who's who here? Weasley family crash course. Go!" I asked him as we leaned against the wall outside.

"Okay," said Al, concentrating and crossing his arms. He pointed with his drink. "Over here, we got Lucy and Molly, they're my Uncle Percy's daughters. Those are their boyfriends, Micah and…well, I've forgotten the other one's name."

Older, taken, only kind of cute…ruling them out.

"Then over there, by the tree, you know my brother James, his 'friend' Nicole Green, Peter Longbottom, Jake Thomas and my cousins Dominique and Roxanne. "

Both Dominque and Roxanne were exceptionally hot. Roxanne had dark hair, defined features and light eyes that were accentuated by mocha skin. She also had a killer body, undoubtedly the effect of long training sessions on the Quidditch pitch. Hmm, broom innuendos, always a good standby. Dominique had long, sumptuous, golden blonde hair and a smile that was absolutely stunning. I don't say stuff like that usually but her hair was unreal and smile was really her best feature by far, and she had a lot of good features.

"Victorie," Al continued, "is the blonde over there with Teddy Lupin. They're engaged…"

Al was still talking but I wasn't listening. Lupin. _Lupin_. That sounded familiar.

"Wait," I said, interrupting him. "Lupin, how do I know that name, was he at Hogwarts with us?"

"No," Al said, brow furrowed. "He graduated before we started."

"Does he have siblings then?"

Al's expression told me I had tread into sensitive area. "No. No, Teddy was orphaned in the war." He looked like something had dawned on him.

There was a moment of extreme tension until I said, "What? You know something. Just tell me."

Al paused. "Teddy's mother was killed by- by her aunt. Bellatrix Lestrange."

Al's words washed over me. It took me a few moments to process that my father's aunt had been partially responsible for orphaning this guy _and_ the fact that he was related to me.

"So, this Lupin guy…he's my, what? Second cousin?" I said, feeling dizzy.

I had forgotten where I was. Who's company I was keeping. I was with the Weasleys, a family that had not long ago been the direct enemy of my own. We had done horrible things to each other. And I was just faced with another reminder of what my own flesh and blood had committed. I felt sick.

I looked at Al, miserable. Al, the ever calm and reasonable bloke, clapped me on the back. "Don't let it worry you, mate. It's way in the past, it's got nothing to do with you."

I still couldn't speak for a bit but luckily Al continued pointing out various cousins and aunts and uncles, either ignoring or oblivious to the fact that I was still shaken.

Frank Longbottom and Lily Potter joined us, looking upset.

"Just walked in on Cam and Andie snogging," Frank said sulkily.

"Who makes out in the bathroom at a party and doesn't lock the door?" Lily said, grimacing.

"I know, Merlin, combined they're like a two headed monster," Al said.

"If the two heads kept trying to snog each other," said Lily.

Lily was probably the best option if I wanted to go for someone but my heart just wasn't in it anymore. She was really very attractive and looked like she actually put some effort into her appearance. I just didn't feel like it now. Plus she was only a fourth year.

Across the party I spotted Harry Potter and Hermione Weasley talking. It was incredibly surreal and honestly fascinating to be standing here at the family gathering of the most famous and admired wizards of our time.

My father doesn't talk about his experiences with them often, except a stray remark here or there about the media's ridiculous infatuation with Potter, or a grumble about how he's not as great everyone seems to think. My mother says that he doesn't like to think about those times because he was ashamed and embarrassed and I reckon she's right.

My father dedicated his life, post-Hogwarts, to clearing himself of the Malfoy's shady past. He had distanced himself from my grandfather, who had spent the rest of his life ruined and isolated, and abandoned the wealth of his childhood for a modest living. Of course, he gained all his inheritance back after a few years years, when Lucius died.

The Ministry had surprisingly been glad to accept him. They were trying to illustrate that things were getting back on track and wanted to show that the old Pureblood wizarding families were putting the past aside and supporting the new order. He did indeed marry a Pureblood, but I never doubted my parent's genuine love for each other. My mum's step-father was Muggle-born, so she had grown up with a much higher exposure to Muggle things. She brought to the Malfoy family a much more open view of the world.

After I had received my Hogwarts letter, my father sat me down and gave me a long lecture on how I was going to behave myself at Hogwarts. I must be cordial and respectful to everyone, regardless of House or blood status. The Malfoys had spent years establishing their reputation and clearing their name and I was expected to continue to uphold the family honor. My father had squatted down to eye-level to tell me that he knew I would be a great heir and never doubted my competence nor my ability to protect the family name.

He wasn't the most affectionate father in the world, but he always found time to talk to or play with me. He made time for Quidditch even when he was swamped with work and always read me a bedtime story as a kid. I had never doubted that he loved me, despite the fact that he didn't say it all too often.

However, despite years of damage control and sucking up, I was aware that all his hard work hadn't fully cleared the Malfoy name. I went to Hogwarts knowing that kids at school would judge me based on the actions of my father and grandfather. That's why I was so angsty those first couple of years. Before Hogwarts I had rarely interacted with other children and when I had come across other kids from the wizarding world, they either knew who I was and avoided me, or their mothers recognized me and politely, but hastily rushed their precious babies away from the dangerous Malfoy boy.

As I pondered these things, growing ever more surly, I noticed that Harry Potter and Hermione Weasley, who were now joined by Ron Weasley as well, were looking in this direction. They were probably just glancing at their kids but I had a strong feeling they were looking at me. Before I could even think, they were walking towards us, glancing at each other and talking in a way that made me _really_ feel that I was the subject of their attention. Panicking, I looked at the others frantically. I was not prepared to talk to them!

But before I had anytime to do anything, they were before us.

"Hello kids, enjoying the party?" said Mrs. Weasley (Hermione? I don't know what I'm supposed to refer to her as?), a small smile on her face. The men both had their eyes on me.

"Yeah, it's going great. Thanks for throwing it Auntie 'Mione," said Lily. She and the rest of the kids were staring between the adults and myself as well. "….And Uncle Ron… of course…" she said absently, but it seemed no one was paying attention.

"Hello," said Hermione, looking at me. "I don't believe we've ever been introduced. I'm Hermione, Rose's mother," she said, extending her hand.

"Scorpius Malfoy." I said, shaking her hand. "It's an honor to meet you ma'm. And my mother always speaks very highly of you." Hermione and my mother both work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

She smiled genuinely. "Oh yes, Astoria is lovely. I've very much enjoyed working alongside her."

"Yeah, she's kept me updated on your work and it's truly impressive. The strides you're making- it's phenomenal. I hope to do something that meaningful myself." I said nervously. Oh Merlin, what am I _saying_? Why couldn't I just do casual small talk like a normal person?

"Oh do you have an interest in Magical Law?" she said, looking sincerely intrigued.

"Yeah, I've been contemplating it more and more these days. Not sure if that's the field for me yet though," I said a nervous smile on my face.

"No, of course, you've got time to figure it all out," she said, smiling.

Harry Potter stepped forward next, Ron close behind. "Hullo, I'm Harry Potter," he said and after a glance at Ron, who didn't speak, "and this is Ron Weasley. More of Rose's family. I'm sure you've met enough of us today to last you a lifetime."

I shook his hand, gobsmacked that I was shaking Harry Potter's hand. "It's an-it's _incredible_, meeting you both." I wondered what my father would think of my being a raging suck-up.

"Yes, Rose has told us quite a bit about you," said Ron, smirking a bit. It was easy to see what he was getting at. They all thought that I was a prick because that's exactly what Rose would have reported.

"Right," I said, probably blushing, which was basically impossible for a Malfoy, so you know how bad it was. "I'm truly sorry about that," I grinned sheepishly. "Rose is actually really great," I added hastily.

Hermione was smirking but Ron seemed to not be able to decide whether this took our relationship in a good or bad direction. "We're happy to have you, dear," said Hermione, signaling the end of the conversation.

After they left, I turned back to Al, Frank and Lily.

Al's eyebrows were raised and he was smirking.

"Save it," I said.

"Jeez, Scorpius, meet a couple of famous wizards and you totally lose your cool," he said.

"'Rose is really lovely, she's my best friend in the whole world!'" said Frank, in a high-pitched mimicry of me.

"Careful there Malfoy, or you'll lose your reputation," said Lily.

As I glanced over where Teddy Lupin was holding hands with his fiancé, I thought that none of them quite knew how much I'd _like_ to lose that reputation.

The sun had gone down and the stars were out, little twinkle lights adorned the yard and people had begun dancing again. The instruments were playing a soft melody and people were swaying to the music. I sat at the tables with Hugo, Al, Lily and some Longbottom kids, waiting for Cam and Andrea to get tired of dancing so we could go. I had wanted to leave ages ago, ever since that awful interaction with Harry, Ron and Hermione and the discovery of my long lost cousin/victim of my family's war crimes

"This is wicked boring," Lily said, tapping her water glass on the table. "Someone come dance with me," she said, standing up. The group looked up at her. "Someone _not_ related to me. That would be you, Frank, let's go."

"I'm not dancing," he said, apparently determined to win the award for Biggest Buzz Kill. "_Malfoy_ isn't related to you."

Lily glanced at me and smiled. "Oh no, I'm not about to start _that_ riot. You're not getting out of this." She grabbed Frank's hand and yanked him off the chair, dragging him to the dance floor.

"My brother? _Dancing_? Now I really feel like a wallflower," said the elder Longbottom girl, slouching. Elizabeth was her name, I think.

Al coughed a little before saying, "Well I'll dance with you." Longbotttom looked at him in surprise and Al continued, "I mean, if you want- you know if that's what you want."

Longbottom smiled and said, "Thanks, Al, yeah let's do it." There was an awkward pause. "I mean do- the dancing, you know what I mean." Laughing, they got up and joined the others on the dance floor, leaving me alone with Hugo.

I'm a pretty confident person and I don't often feel uncomfortable. But in this case I was feeling it a little. I focused intently on sipping my chilled butterbeer.

Hugo scratched his head and grinned. "Now, I don't suppose you're gonna ask me to dance?"

I actually spit out my butterbeer. Laughing and dabbing up my mess, I said, "I hadn't planned on it, mate but that's only cause I didn't know you were interested."

Hugo grinned and popped an appetizer in his mouth. Chewing, he said, "You know, I never got to thank you for, uh, snaggin' me at the match when I fell. So, thanks for that."

"Oh," I groaned. "I was going to say I never got to apologize for that embarrassing incident."

"Nah, mate we're good. I appreciated it, really. Congrats on taking home the Cup, by the way."

"Thanks, you guys put up a good fight."

"Craig McGuiness is a wicked good Seeker, I really didn't stand a chance," Hugo said humbly.

"Ah, but McGuiness is a seventh year, so we're losing him next year, unfortunately."

Before Hugo could respond, Weasley sat down at our table. "Bloody Lily," she said, taking off her heeled shoes. "It's not worth the pain, I don't care anymore."

I was about to make a biting remark but refrained. I'm not going soft on her or anything, it's just her birthday! I respect the birthday.

She grabbed two of the appetizers and slouched back in her chair. "Oh sweet Merlin, how _good_ are these? Did you like them? Made 'em meself," she said in a mock Cockney accent, complete with awkward little arm gestures. What a dork.

"Yeah they're awesome. Just like they were every other time you've made them this summer. And don't do that accent, you're embarrassing." Hugo said.

"First of all, don't criticize my accents, those are always a crowd-pleaser! And second, they're Brie cheese and flaky puff-pastries, they're amazing. They deserve praise every time." she said, mouth full.

"You are too intense with your food. You get crazy eyes. Back me up here, Malfoy," Hugo said.

"Frankly, you frighten me a little. I feel like were I to attempt to stop you from eating your pastry there you might bite me," I said.

She paused. "That is an accurate assumption," she said, and resumed chewing.

We were interrupted by Weasley's mother standing before us, Muggle camera in hand. "Ok kids, smile!"

"Mum!" Weasley whined, while Hugo groaned.

"It's your sixteenth birthday party, Rose, obligatory pictures are a part of the deal," she said, gesturing for us to scoot in.

She made a pouty face.

"It's for Grandma and Grandpa Granger, they couldn't be here and I'm sending them some photos! Do it for them!" her mother implored.

I couldn't help but think Grandma and Grapndpa Granger couldn't care less about me, but I wasn't about to argue with Hermione Weasley.

"Mum, I've posed for about a million pictures today, I don't think my face muscles can manage a smile!" Despite her protests, Weasley was scooting her chair closer to mine. We both looked over to see Hugo dashing away and disappearing into the dancing crowd.

"Hugh, come on! Ugh, well alright," Hermione said, turning back to the two of us.

Out of picture-posing habit, I put my arm around Weasley. I wondered if she thought this as incredibly weird as I did, but if she did she was not letting on. She just stared ahead, smiling.

"One, two, three, smile!"

The flash momentarily blinded me and through the clearing white spots in my eyes I could make out Hermione looking at the picture and saying, "Oh, lovely, that's a great one."

Weasley scoffed as her mother moved on to her next prey. "Yeah, a classic, I'm sure," she said sarcastically.

"One for the reject pile on your dresser," I said.

She grinned and yawned, curling up in her seat. If we were different people, I would have offered my shoulder for her to rest her head on but we weren't. We were Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley and it would do me some good to remember that.

"Funny, isn't it," she said, closing her eyes and yawning again. "You and me, like this."

"Yeah. It's weird," I said, looking down at her.

"I know!" she said grinning. "We're kind of friends, aren't we?"

"Kind of," I said. She sighed.

Andrea and Cam approached the table and I elbowed Weasley to perk up.

"Happy birthday Rose! Thanks for a great party!" Andrea said, hugging her.

"You guys taking off?" Weasley said as they parted.

As they said their goodbyes, Cam said, "Ready Scor?"

I nodded, grabbing my jacket. After hugging Cam, Weasley turned to me. I expected her to shake my hand or awkwardly pat my back as usual, but she pulled me into a quick hug. "Thanks for the book, although you're mad if you think you're copying off me."

"Don't need to, Weasley, you know that," I said, as I started to walk away. "Happy birthday though!" I shouted over the crowd that now parted us.

She just waved and rolled her eyes, sitting down again, joined by what seemed to be Al and Frank back from dancing.

After one last look around, we Floo'd back to Cam's house, where I was undoubtably to be unceremoniously sent off to bed while Cam and Andrea snogged.

A week later I was back at home and getting some early packing done when a vaguely familiar owl fluttered in through my open window. Erasmus, our cat, made a gurgling noise of unhappiness and leapt off my bed and out of the room. My own owl Hercules begrudgingly made room for the newcomer on his perch. I gave them both a treat and untied the letter around it's foot.

I recognized Weasley's handwriting immediately, I had been working alongside it for years now, but I don't recall ever seeing my name written out in her neat, round letters.

_Malfoy-_

_ Thanks again for the book, I've been digging into it already. We're really in for it this year as far as I can tell. _

_You made quite an impression at the party, I have some elderly aunts that were expressing interest if you want me to fix you up. I'm glad you came, even if it was weird. We need to be on good terms this year, we're going to have a lot of work to do. (We both know that translates to I'm going to have a lot of work to do, you lazy prat). Hope the rest of your summer is pleasant, give your mother my love._

_-Rose_

Enclosed was the picture her mother had taken of us that night. As Hermione had taken it with a Muggle camera for Weasley's Muggle grandparents, the image was still. It was disorienting, not seeing a picture move. We were smiling, frozen, my arm around her and- I only just noticed now- her hand on my chair, just next to my leg. We looked like a couple to be honest. I'm surprised that thought was even permitted to enter my brain, but its how we looked.

I pondered the picture for a moment longer, then strode across the room to my desk. In the first drawer, under some papers, was the picture of Weasley and I kissing at the ball, which I had repaired with magic. I tossed the second picture in with it and, for good measure, made sure there was a stack of papers covering them. I didn't need Emmie, our house-elf, getting any ideas while cleaning that she needed to tell my mother about.


	12. Hogsmeade

I jumped awake with a start. I was in the middle of a prefect meeting and had apparently dozed off. How long had I been out? My eyes were already starting to feel heavy again. I had been up so late every night this week with seemingly never-ending schoolwork in addition to prefect duties and Quidditch practice. Roxanne had asked me to fill in just as a stand-in during practices while James was on a two-week probation for using a hex that tattooed something vulgar on an opposing player's face.

Needless to say, I was exhausted. I looked around briefly to see if anyone had noticed my trip to Snoozeville. It seemed I was in the clear until Malfoy mouthed from across the semi-circle something that looked like "Drool, much?"

He would.

I reverted my attention to Deirdre, the Head Girl, who seemed to be wrapping things up. "Oh and before I forget, the first Hogsmeade date of the year is this Saturday. The prefects on duty are as follows: for the fifth years we have Scott and Amita and for the sixth, Scorpius and Rose. For those of you who don't know, seventh year prefects don't usually don't have to do Hogsmeade duty. Anyway, I think that about covers it." She confirmed with Steven, the Head Boy, that we could go and we were released.

Yawning, I gathered my things and headed for the door with the rest of the prefects. I walked along with Frank in sleepy silence, until he began to head in a different direction than our common room.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Lizzie needed some help with Charms, I was gonna head to the Hufflepuff common room and see what I can do," he said, waving.

"You're a good brother," I yelled as he turned the corner. There was nothing Hugo could do to entice me away from the call of my bed right now. I resolved to just finish my homework in the morning, going through a mental checklist of what I had to do when I felt a presence behind me. I turned to see Malfoy approaching me.

"Wanna do Hogsmeade duty together, try and pass the time together?" he said as he caught up and strolled alongside me.

"Uh, no," I said.

"It was obviously sarcasm, Weasley. I don't want to see your dumb face anymore than necessary," he said, grinning.

This was the routine we had fallen into this year. Jabs and insults and an absolute refusal to sincerely acknowledge that we actually had a functional friendship underneath it all. "Meet in front of the Great Hall at 11?" I asked as we started to part ways and head to our respective common rooms.

"Sounds good," he said.

I glanced at the clock. 11:09. Ugh, Malfoy would be pissed. He knows I'm never on time, what else should he expect? I dug around my piles of clothes strewn about the dormitory until I found the scarf I was looking for. Wrapping it around my neck, I checked my reflection once more, decided not to wear my knitted hat, grabbed my bag and dashed out of the room.

Huffing from speed walking, I made it over to the previously established meeting spot to find Malfoy leaning on a staircase with an eyebrow cocked.

"I know I'm late, let's just get going." I said.

We were patrolling Hogsmeade, making sure the streets were clear of mischief, and arguing about feminism and gender roles.

"But think about it, we insult men by calling them women or attributing to them 'embarrassing' feminine qualities. The worst thing we call a man is a woman. Meanwhile all the insults towards women are distinctly feminine, 'slut', 'whore', 'bitch' and worse, all with a female connotation. The worst thing we call a woman is a _woman_."

Scorpius looked exasperated. "You're reading too far into it. Besides, all my best insults towards you usually revolve around your masculinity."

"I'm sorry that I don't conform to your ideal female standard. I'm not concerned with _looking pretty_ for you." I was about to continue but froze.

Across the street, coming out of the Three Broomsticks, were Brian Fletcher and Ariana Overin.

I interrupted Malfoy, screeching, "I could really go for a butterbeer!" and dragging him towards the establishment without even thinking what I was going to say. They were heading in the opposite direction and I felt a moment of panic at the thought of him not spotting us but I could hear him say something about forgetting something and he turned around, face to face with us.

"Rose? Scorpius?" he said, beaming. He really looked utterly thrilled. That was the worst part, what right did he have getting this excited to see me?

"Hey!" I said shrilly, blushing furiously. Curses, nothing's really changed. I haven't "gotten over him" like I tried to convince myself. Merlin, I am _pathetic_.

"How are you guys?" he said, hugging me in the most adorable bear-hug way and clapping Malfoy on the back as Ariana stood by silently. She was wearing this cute little beanie and expensive looking coat, her hair perfectly curled and make-up done impeccably. I still think she kind of looks like an alien though.

"Great, how's your job at the Ministry?"

"It's good, going well. I just came up to visit this one for the weekend," he said, looping his arm through Ariana's. "What about you, do you have any idea yet what you're going to go into after Hogwarts?"

"Still figuring it out," I said. "He's going to be a lawyer though," I said gesturing towards Malfoy.

Malfoy rolled his eyes at me and interjected, "Maybe."

"I think that'd suit you quiet well," said Brian. Malfoy shrugged. "And are either of you dating anyone?" he asked, tilting his head in an inquisitive manner. "I was always surprised no one snatched you up sooner, Rosie."

For a split second I contemplated lying. Inventing some wonderful boyfriend, not even to make him jealous, that wasn't going to happen, just to not feel so pathetic. Deciding against it, I opened my mouth no doubt to blabber awkwardly about being _single and ready to mingle_ but Malfoy beat me to it.

"Actually Rose and _I_ are together now," he said quickly. My head snapped towards him and I gave him a "what-the-bloody-hell-are-you-doing?" face and he gave me a "go-along-with-it" smirk. Forcing a smile, I turned back to Brian, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Finally! I knew all that unresolved sexual tension in those DADA sessions had to go somewhere," he said, laughing. Malfoy and I chuckled awkwardly. "That's wicked, I'm very pleased."

"Ah well, all that frizzy, ginger charm got to me after a while," Malfoy said, wrapping his arm around me and squeezing me close. As pissed as I was, I might as well go with it, at least then it might appear like I have a relatively normal social life.

I hesitantly wrapped one arm around him and put my hand on his chest, resting my head under his chin. When did he get to be _that_ much taller than me?

"Warms my heart to see you two crazy kids together, you've come so far," Brian said, pulling his own significant other close.

I looked up at Malfoy with sappy eyes and he looked back at me with an admittedly convincing amount of affection.

"What can I say," he said grinning softly. "There was no point in resisting anymore."

I shifted uncomfortably.

We bid goodbye to Brian and Ariana and they strolled off arm and arm towards Honeydukes. I groaned and shoved my head into Malfoy's chest. He patted me on the back and we made our way into the Three Broomsticks.

"Come on future cat-lady, I'll buy you a butterbeer," he said, dragging me through the door.

"Oh so I'm to become a 'crazy' social outcast just because I won't have a man to depend on? If _you_ never marry you'd be seen as a suave bachelor, but since _I'm_ a woman-" I was interrupted by Malfoy clapping his hand over my mouth to silence me. I swatted his hand away and we squeezed into a booth.

"What was that about anyway, 'Rose and I are together now'," I said in an imitation of his posh accent.

"I just felt so bad for you. You looked like the sad puppies at the animal shelter. I felt compelled to help and what better way to elevate your status than by saying you were dating me?" he said smugly.

"You know if they literally talk to anyone about it that story will fall through in two seconds, right?"

"Oh, Weasley, I doubt he'll be thinking about you for the weekend when he's got his gorgeous girlfriend to entertain."

Later, Malfoy and I were patrolling around the Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. My cousin Molly ran the Hogsmeade shop and it was always fun to say hi and browse.

We wandered past the Love Potions section and I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, how is this still legal? Allowing pathetic teenage girls to buy these is downright dangerous."

Malfoy nodded, "Pathetic teenage girls, you'd know about that first hand," he said, taking the cap off the Amorentia and smelling it. He had a dazed sort of look on his face. I followed suit, inhaling for myself.

"What do you smell?" I asked.

He inhaled again before answering. "Coffee… The leather of the books in our study…and…." He shrugged. "That's all I can distinguish."

I raised an eyebrow quizzically. "You're blushing Malfoy."

"Maybe I'm just embarrassed to be having this stupid conversation with _you_, in _public _no less. What do you smell then?"

A smile came to my face just thinking about the intoxicating scent. "Freshly done laundry, always loved the smell of warm, clean towels. The Gibson ice cream parlor in the Muggle village near our house. The whole place smells absolutely delicious, I can never exhale in there. And something else I can't place. It's familiar but I don't know what it is. I've heard that usually people smell a scent related to their 'soul mate' in Amorentia. But that can't apply if you haven't met them, right?"

"I don't reckon, how can you smell something you've never smelled?" he said, glancing down.

I nodded in agreement. Maybe the clean-boy smell I detected in the Amortentia was just Brian, a placeholder of sorts until I met my real soulmate.


	13. Emotionally Assaulted From All Angles

**Kind of a weird chapter but more to follow soon! And just in case anyone was wondering, Hutch is a nickname for Hugo and I love it so I wanted to use it. **

On the morning of the prefect's Christmas party in mid-December, I sat in the Great Hall, leisurely eating my waffles and reading. Cam and Andie were nowhere to be found and Frank was performing some prefect duties so Al and I sat with James, Roxie, Dom and Jake.

Dom was reviewing Herbology terms with James when the owl post came in. I briefly glanced around to see if there was anything headed towards me. I recognized Hermes, Astoria's owl, bypassing Malfoy at the Ravenclaw table and landing in front of me. I turned and smirked at Malfoy, giving a little wave as I opened Astoria's package. He gave me an icy death glare.

As I admired the magical edition of _The Age of Innocence_ Astoria had lent me, a shriek erupted across from me at the table. Roxie's eyes were fixed on a letter, her hands shaking.

"What? What is it?" We all implored her to relay the contents of the letter.

A smile spread across Roxie's face, an emotional and sincere smile. "I got a letter from the Appleby Arrows. They want me on as Seeker! Soon as I graduate!" she said enthusiastically.

We all erupted into cheers. We took turns clapping Roxie on the back, and commenced toasting and whooping.

For a moment I worried about James's reaction. He had always been a little jealous of Roxie's talent, of her being the star of the family. Well, the Quidditch star. I suppose our family has lots of stars.

But James went into full-on managerial mode. "Ok, alright Roxie. This is brilliant news but you should hold out. Make no commitments yet, lots of teams are going to be coming after you."

"Relax, James, just let me be happy!" Roxie said dismissing him with a wave of her hand. "The Arrows are one of my favorite teams, I'm going to accept. After I talk to Mum and Dad about it, of course."

James went on about how it would be foolish to accept the first offer and in all the excitement I almost didn't notice the look on Jake's face. It was one of such love and pride my heart collapsed in on itself. I've been such a sucker for the romantic lately.

Jake and Roxie had finally started dating at the start of the term. It was during the most intense Quidditch game I've ever seen and Roxie caught the Snitch in a dramatic finish. In the chaos of the after-match celebration, Jake and Roxie had begun violently snogging. They argue over who made the first move, both claim to have been the one to initiate but regardless, they had been a couple ever since.

It might have been my imagination, but she wasn't really acknowledging him. They were usually not shy about PDA and I would've thought she would be all over him in the euphoria of the moment. I was probably reading too far into things, per usual but as the rest of the breakfast progressed, I swear my cousin barely looked at her boyfriend.

After breakfast, the lot of us started walking out to the Quidditch pitch to celebrate with an impromptu match. As we were walking, I happened to glance behind me and see Jake pulling Roxie aside and mumbling something to her. She looked a little perplexed and nodded and they ducked around a corridor. I nudged Al.

"Invisibility Cloak!" I whispered.

_No!_ he mouthed.

I nodded frantically, pawing at him.

"I want no part of this! Merlin knows what they could be doing," he said, grabbing the cloak out of his bag and tossing it at me. "You are so nosy. Invasion of privacy! Invasion of privacy!" he hissed at me as I threw the cloak over my body.

"Look who's the goody-two shoes now!" said my disembodied voice.

Stealthily, I hurried over to where Jake and Roxie were talking.

"…think about _us_. I just don't know if staying in a relationship is….the best idea," Roxie said gently, looking more vulnerable and nervous then I'd ever seen her.

"I don't understand," Jake said, genuinely confused. "This is great news, I couldn't be happier for you. Why would this come between us?"

Sighing and pressing a hand to her temple, Roxie said, "I may be thinking too far in advance already, it's just…I'm going to be the young, new kid on the team. I dunno- I don't want to be _that_ girl, with the boyfriend back home…" she trailed off, letting Jake fill in the blanks.

"Holding you back," he said.

Her expression said it all, but she still shook her head, "I just can't have any distractions, not this early in my career. I need to be entirely focused. And being with you, I've loved every minute of it," she touched his arm gently, "but it _has_ been a distraction, I'm off my game. And I've been afraid to admit it but with this opportunity now, I can't afford to mess up."

"Well if you've made your mind up, I guess there's no point in arguing with you. I don't want you to be with me if you don't want to."

Roxie looked conflicted. Her eyes, light in contrast to her dark skin, glanced at Jake and then down at her hands. "I want to be with you, Jake. I just don't think it's what's best right now."

"I get it," Jake said, his tone reeking of bitterness. "Congrats again, Roxie. I hope you get what you want."

As he turned to stalk away, she spoke, with more confidence and authority. "You can't make me feel bad about this, Jake. I'm allowed to pursue my career, that's allowed to be important to me."

"I'm not doing this with you right now. I accepted you breaking up with me," his expression indicated he was containing angrier words but exhaled and said, "You need to give me some time."

I watched shocked as Jake stormed off and Roxie stood alone in the hall looking torn. Ashamed and embarrassed over what I'd seen, I slumped back to where the rest of the gang had assembled. I handed Al his cloak and when he asked if it had been worth it, I just shook my head and refused to divulge any farther. Tonight was the prefect's Christmas party and I was hardly in the mood anymore, after having witnessed a sad break-up, and having witnessed it so unethically.

A little paperclip with wings fluttered through my door and landed in front of me. I opened the note it contained to find Frank's thin scrawl. He'd be griping that I was going to make us late for the prefect's Christmas party.

_Rose-_

_ Hurry up already! Honestly, I've been waiting in the common room for ten minutes, if you don't get down here soon I'm going to leave without you! _

Groaning, I thanked the Hogwarts founders for the enchanted staircases that prevented Frank from physically dragging me out of my room. I got on my hands and knees, searching under the beds for my other shoe. I knew I should've gotten ready first but I had been too absorbed in my book and lost track of time. Unable to locate my other shoe, I resorted to wearing my formal heels, which I had hoped to avoid because they hurt like crazy and I was clumsy in them. I hobbled towards Andie's vanity and checked myself in the mirror.

My hair was a bit of a mess. I hadn't gotten around to doing it so I grabbed a silver headband and slid it on. That seemed to help. I was wearing a cute black cocktail dress that I had borrowed from Dom and magically altered to fit. Grandma Molly taught me housekeeping spells over the summer and I protested on the grounds of feminism ("If you're teaching me, you should be teaching Hutch too! Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm the only one who could benefit from learning them!"), but they had come in handy more times than I could count.

Finally, I slipped on a silver cardigan because it's December and I'm not such a slave to fashion that I'd sacrifice my comfort. I grabbed my present for the secret gift exchange as well. It was a book about dragon care I got for Armand Dunbar, the fifth year Ravenclaw prefect. I knew he was interested in dragons, and that was about all I had to go on, so I hoped he liked it.

I hobbled downstairs in my heels, linking arms with Frank, dressed all dapper in his little skinny tie, and using him for support as we exited the common room.

"Who was your secret Santa?" I asked Frank, who annoyingly insisted it remained secret. Maybe he got me. I hoped so, Frank would know what I want. I _had_ expressed my desire for a pair of old-school flannel pajamas.

We entered the party, where the prefects and Heads were mingling to light music and house-elves walked around with trays of appetizers. Everyone abandoned the pretense of "secret" Santas and seemed to be exchanging gifts openly so I made my way over to Armand.

Peering at the book from under his glasses, he actually seemed quite excited about my gift. "Thank you, Rose! It's actually exactly what I need, I don't have anything specifically on their basic needs." he said. I hoped I hadn't just encouraged him to illegally raise a dragon of his own.

After parting with Armand, I helped myself to a snack from the tray and bobbed awkwardly to the music. I spotted Nicole Green, the girl James had fancied for an eternity and she smiled and waved. Very pretty, with olive skin and curly brown hair, Nicole seemed to still be stubbornly refusing James, despite the fact that she clearly returned the feelings at this point. I made my way over to her and what appeared to be her gift exchange partner, the fifth year Hufflepuff Hannah Schaeffer.

Short, blonde and athletic Hannah was cute and from our few interactions, really funny. She had a sarcastic, sharp sense of humor and when I approached, she was making a quip about the tense dynamic between the Heads, type A Deidre and laidback Steven.

In a perfect impression of Deidre, she pursed her lips and said, "Well, some people are appointed Heads because they're smart, organized and hard-working and some are appointed because they're," she paused for an accurate imitation of her bitter chuckle, "_popular_".

We all chuckled at Hannah's impression and the two girls greeted me cheerfully.

"Hey guys, Happy Christmas," I said. "How'd your gift exchange go?"

"Great," Hannah said enthusiastically, "Nicole got me this awesome Wimbourne Wasps blanket," she said, holding up the blanket, which did indeed look cozy.

"Brynn Parcell gave me a book on herbal remedies because he knows I'm planning on being a Healer. Not the most glamorous gift, but certainly gonna come in handy when I'm buried in training next year."

"My Santa has yet to reveal themselves," I said, glancing around.

"Oh, who are you guys going to the Ball with?" Nicole said, a giddy grin on her face.

"You're uncharacteristically excited," I said, looking at Nicole suspiciously.

A cheeky grin made it's way across her face. "It's my last Christmas at Hogwarts! Merlin!" She ran a hand through her curly hair. "I'll miss it, but I can't pretend I'm not ready to get on with my life," she said, scoffing. "But, I, uh, am going with James Potter." She looked at me hesitantly but couldn't suppress a smile.

I grinned widely. "What! James didn't tell me! How did this happen?"

Nicole blushed, a rare occurrence. "It only happened yesterday. We started talking about the Ball and," she buried her face in her hands. "I don't know, I gave in! Does that make me weak?"

"No!" I said smiling brightly. "Believe it or not, James actually _likes_ you. He's not wickedly trying to seduce you, so there's no shame in accepting. You've made him wait long enough," I said and we both chuckled.

"Well I'm just going with Frank Longbottom. We decided to go with a friends and just avoid the _drama_." I said "drama" in the way girls always say it: "drahhhhmaaaaa".

They both nodded in a "been there" type of way and Hannah said, "Well, uh, I'm going with Scorpius Malfoy."

My head snapped so fast my neck cracked. "Wait, _Malfoy_ Malfoy? Scorpius Malfoy Malfoy?"

She nodded.

I tried not to look like this was a big deal. "I…didn't even know you knew each other."

She smiled. "Yeah, actually, we just met this term. When we were both using the Quidditch pitch for some solo practice. He was gorgeous and charming and, I just," she laughed, "I didn't stand a chance. So we've been hanging out a little since then. We've been having breakfast together practically every morning."

That held up, I never woke up as early as Malfoy did, my breakfast was usually cramming toast in my mouth and running to class a half hour after everyone else had eaten.

Nicole was going on about 'how sweet that sounded!' and 'so are you guys dating?'.

"No, nothings even happened! But he did ask me to the Ball and I accepted, so maybe we'll see what happens there?" She smiled with nervous giddiness.

I was perplexed. Hannah was sweet, funny and down to earth. How was it that she had a legitimate crush on Malfoy? It just didn't add up. Malfoy dated either pretty little twits or serious sourpusses. Hannah was so nice and normal and cool. Hannah should be with someone who was also nice and normal and cool.

"Don't say anything to him about this though, Rose," she said, turning to me and shuddering. "I know you guys are friends. I want to at least play it cool," she grinned.

"What?" I said shrilly. "We- we are not friends."

She looked genuinely surprised. "Really? He talks about you all the time, I thought you were study buddies_._"

I just shook my head, made a weird shrugging face and my face sort of retreated into my neck. "That's great though, I'm glad you're…happy." My words were strangely drawn out.

Hannah nodded, looking a little weirded out.

After I bid them both goodbye, I took off my cardigan and hung it on the coat rack, the multitude of people making me warm. There was dreamy, old-timey music playing on the magical phonograph. It made me wistful. I wanted a romance like Nicole, like Andie. Even Hannah had something to get excited about.

Before I could delve too deep into self-pity and longing, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Inadvertently, I shivered, the unexpected touch on my newly bare skin giving me chills. I turned to see Malfoy, looking very nice indeed in his jacket and tie, his hair swept to the side. I blinked a few times.

From behind his back he pulled a small-ish box wrapped in gold paper and tied with a little red ribbon. My heart swelled. Gryffindor colors.

Wordlessly, I took the box from him and very gingerly undid the ribbon and carefully removed the wrapping paper, trying not to damage or rip it in doing so.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Weasley," he said exasperatedly. "Just rip it off."

Reluctantly, I did so. I opened the smooth, white box beneath the paper to reveal a very pretty necklace with a miniature golden Snitch hanging on it's chain. My jaw actually dropped. The detail was incredible and the tiny wings fluttered gently when I touched it. It was painfully pretty and utterly perfect. Speechless, I looked back up at Malfoy.

"You said you were obsessed with Snitches when you were little, so when I got you for Secret Santa…" he trailed off. He was starting to look a little nervous, probably because I still hadn't spoken.

I snapped out of it, abandoning inhibition and pulling him into a tight hug. "Malfoy, honestly, it's beautiful. I couldn't love it more. Thank you, really, thank you so much!" I gave it to him and gestured for him to put it on me. As I did so, I realized the chain was long enough to just put it over my head, unclasping and re-clasping it was unnecessary but he was already moving to do so.

Behind me, he pulled my hair to one side and fastened the necklace. I was unsettlingly aware of his hands on my neck. I longed for my cardigan; I kept getting the chills. His hand lightly strayed down my back and he came back around to face me.

"Happy Christmas, anyways."

I touched my necklace affectionately. "Bloody hell Malfoy, now I'm going to end up wearing something _you_ gave me everyday." I said, trying to break the tension.

His smirk turned into a playful laugh. "Merlin, what's that cracking noise? I think it's the ice freezing hell over."

After the party, I entered the common room through the portrait hole, still thinking about the events of the evening. A few people were still in the armchairs, including James and Jake.

"Hey!" I said, pointing accusingly at James. "You didn't tell me you were going to the Ball with Nicole!" I flopped down next to them.

James's face lit up. "Oh yeah, sorry. But how brilliant is that? You should've seen it. It was so romantic it was dumb," James said.

I rolled my eyes.

"She asked me who I was going with and I gave her this big speech. I was like, 'I'm not going! I've tried asking you and I've tried not asking you. None of it matters because none of it got me you!' And she was all, 'Try asking me again'." James recounted the whole story dramatically and with many giggles. Sometimes I forget that James is a six-year old girl.

I patted him on the shoulder. "Good for you, buddy."

There was an awkward pause where it was clear we were avoiding addressing the fact that Jake was recently left date-less.

"For the record mate, I think Roxie is making a mistake. There's no real reason to break-up like that." James looked at him, serious and genuine, for a rare moment.

"Oh good, she told you guys," he said, darkly.

James and I exchanged looks. I leaned forward and gently said, "We're really sorry, Jake."

"Yeah, mate we're on your side," James said.

"There aren't sides so don't say that. But if there were, you wouldn't be on mine. You'll never be on mine. You're her family. _All_ my friends are her family, so actually I'll never have anyone on my side." He stood. "Goodnight," he said, and, looking surly, headed for the stairs.

James and I exchanged looks. "Better just give him some space," James said.

I agreed and bid James a good night and shuffled off to my dorm. Shrugging off my dress and cardigan and sliding into my sweats, I reflected the stresses and surprises of the day. Gingerly I removed my necklace and set it on the nightstand beside my bed. A small smile snuck onto my face as I watched the tiny wings flutter. It really was terribly pretty.

As I got into bed, my thoughts turned to Malfoy and Hannah. It was such an unexpected thought I didn't quite know what to make of it. Malfoy wasn't the boyfriend type. He had dated plenty of girls and, as it would seem, done pretty well for himself, but never got serious. It was a strange concept, to think about him sincerely liking a girl and pursuing her. He's always been such a cad when it comes to women. I pondered these things until I fell asleep, and my dreams were of Jake and Hannah and snitches.

I spent the next day primarily in the library getting ready for the pre-holiday exams. In the afternoon, I returned to the common room and hopped up to my dormitory, energized from being so productive. I entered to find Andie pacing around the room in a frenzy.

"Whoa there, what's going on? You have crazy eyes," I said, tossing my bookbag on my bed and sitting down.

"Cam and I got in a huge fight," she said, still looking wild, her blonde hair piled on her head messily. "He said that I'm spending too much time with other guys, particularly Frank and Al."

"That's ridiculous, you've barely hung out with any of us since you two started dating," I said, trying not to reek of bitterness.

She ignored my comment anyway. "You know how I was feeling under the weather the other day and Frank brought me soup from the kitchens? Cam thought that was 'inappropriate'. Probably just upset because someone else is being a better boyfriend than he is!"

"He can't tell you who you are and aren't allowed to hang out with," I said, although who knows if she was even listening.

She was flipping through her trunk, but she nodded. "I know, which is why I'm going to the Ball with Frank." She pulled out her dress robes, stood up straight and looked at me with a satisfied smirk.

"_What_?" I said. There seemed to be a slight scheduling conflict in that I was going to the Ball with Frank.

"Frank's going to be my date. Cam and I aren't over or anything, I just want to rile him up a little," she said, scrunching her nose and giggling.

"Aside from the fact that that is a truly terrible idea, you seem to have forgotten that Frank's going with me to the Ball," I said.

"What? No he's not! He agreed to go with me not twenty minutes ago. And if he was going with you I would know about it, Rose." Looking exasperated, she hung her formal dress off the edge of her bed and sat down.

All the anger and annoyance I felt towards Andie from the past year was bubbling up, threatening to overtake me. I registered with irritation that Frank had discarded our agreement, but for now my focus was on the girl across the room from me. "Frank and I decided to go together about a week ago. Don't talk to me like I don't know what's going on in my own life. You don't know because you're never around anymore and when you are, you're not listening to anything coming out of my mouth unless it has to do with your stupid boyfriend. Except, of course, when you haven't studied before a test and need me to tell you everything."

"You don't need to get so hostile with me, love, just because Frank apparently forgot about your date. I'm sorry if you like him or something."

I was now on the verge of turning into a full-blown rage monster. To accuse me of liking Frank was just stupid but there's nothing I loathe more than terms of endearment used condescendingly. "Sorry, _love." _I said the word like it was a curse. "But you don't get to know who I like anymore because you haven't been a friend to me for a year now. Why can't you just ask Al?"

"Al's going with Elizabeth Longbottom."

"What? Have you all lost your minds? Al knows my brother's been in love with Elizabeth his whole life," I said. My eyebrows were beginning to quiver.

"Al asked her, like two days ago. I guess I'm not as out of touch with the group as you think," she said, with more snark than I cared for.

With an annoyed glance at Andie, I walked briskly out of the room and headed towards the boy's dorms. I needed to have a chat with Frank and Al.


	14. Irate, Then Sad

**Baby chapter cause everything's busy with school startin' up but I wanted to update! **

I stormed into the boys dormitory looking something akin to the Whomping Willow. Al wasn't there but Frank was laying on his bed, flipping through an issue of _Witch Weekly. _Upon seeing me he quickly tossed the magazine under the bed and sat up. Doehan Che, one of the sixth year Gryffindors I was less familiar with, was in the room as well, looking rather terrified in his t-shirt and boxer shorts.

"Doehan, sincere apologies for barging in like this," I said, averting my eyes as he scrambled to put on his pants. "Frank. Outside. Now."

I stalked out of the room, Frank close on my heels. I led him down the stairs, through the common room, out the portrait hole, down the hall and around the corner to an empty corridor.

"What the hell, Frank? You're going to the Ball with Andie now, are you?"

"Ah, about that-"

"And you didn't even bother to ask me about it? Just thought it'd be better to let me find out from Andie that I'm dateless to the Ball that's thisSaturday?"

"You and I were just going as friends, I thought it was casual, informal! Andie was really hurt and upset and she wanted to go with me and I didn't think you'd mind."

"You're an idiot."

"I'm sorry."

"They're not even _broken up_! Just because you're bloody obsessed with Andie doesn't mean you can bail on your friend," I said angrily.

I stomped away and Frank followed, trying to explain himself. I rounded the corner only to find Andie on the other side, looking stunned. Had she been eavesdropping on purpose or had she just gotten there? Frank soon caught up and there was an extremely awkward moment during which we were each trying to decipher what exactly was going on. How much of the conversation had she heard? The 'obsessed with Andie' part was particularly concerning. Frank's face was completely drained of color.

Unsure of what to do and in no mood to talk to either of them at this point, I awkwardly sidestepped Andie and walked briskly back towards the common room. I saw Al climbing into the portrait hole, clearly just returning from Quidditch practice, and I hurried to catch up to him.

Once in the common room, I grabbed Al's arm and he yelped in surprise. I yanked him over to a secluded corner and practically threw him down into a chair. I stood, pacing.

"What were you thinking, asking Elizabeth to the Ball?" I whispered, to avoid causing a scene.

Al ran a hand through his hair, "Rose".

"My brother is going to be crushed!"

"Rose, it's just a dance."

"Do you like her?" I said, pausing in my pacing, hands on hips.

Al rolled his eyes. "Yeah, kind of. I didn't plan on it, but I'm not going to apologize for it either."

"'Yeah, kind of'," I scoffed. "It's really worth hurting Hutch over 'yeah, kind of'?"

"Fine I like her a lot!"

"And do you think the feeling is mutual?"

"As a matter of fact, I think I do."

"And what about my brother?"

"It's just a crush, I'm sure he'll get over it."

"It's just a crush for you too, why don't _you_ get over it!"

"Rose, darling," he said, with annoying condensation. Al was so much like his father but at that moment I was reminded that he was just as much Aunt Ginny's son. "This may come as a major shock to you, but it's actually not your business. Most of the things that occupy your time and energy aren't."

I bristled. Al was usually patient with me; he usually indulged me.

"Don't you call me 'darling' in that patronizing tone! You know I hate that!"

I got nothing but an eyebrow raise from my cousin.

I continued. "Hutch would never do this to you, you know that. He would never be so selfish. You didn't even talk to him about it?" He shook his head in silence. "I hope you're happy, Potter."

We never got in real fights, we would usually just cool off separately if we were annoyed with one another. To actually be exchanging harsh words with him was upsetting and I didn't want any more of it. I walked off and out of the portrait hole.

I felt utterly alone. I couldn't talk to any of my closest friends. I arrived at my destination before I even realized that I was going there. Shaking, I tapped the barrels in front of the Hufflepuff common room the way Hugo had taught me.

Once inside, I calmed down a little. The Hufflepuff common room always had that effect on me. Cozy, warm and sunny, it was impossible to remain tense. A plant hummed softly, swaying in a copper pot. I could've been very happy as a Hufflepuff.

My brother was sunk in a massive armchair under the windowsill. When he saw me, a confused smile crossed his face. He was finally growing out of being completely mortified to be seen with me in public. It had been quite annoying, trying to talk to him while he pretended he didn't know me. We once got in a very intense fight on a beach during a vacation when I had tried to wave at him, the primary weapons being sand and sunscreen.

"Hutch, can we talk?" I said softly.

Putting down his wizard comic book, he nodded and we headed for the fourth year boy's dormitory. Relieved to find it empty, I collapsed on Hutch's bed.

"What's all this about?" he said.

"Two things. I need to tell you something unfortunate and I wanted your emotional support for something else.

"Unfortunate thing first. Then we can emotionally support each other," he said with a grin, sitting on the bed.

"Al's going to the Ball with Elizabeth. I don't know but it looks like they might start dating."

Hugo's eyebrows raised and his lips parted slightly. He had Dad's long face and lanky physique and Mom's bright brown eyes. His hair was a dark auburn, and stood up wild and out of control. He ran his hands through it now, making it stand up even taller, and nodded.

"Ok," he said.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking dismal.

He just nodded again and said, "What's your thing?"

"Ugh. Frank bailed on me to go to the Ball with Andie and we all got in a big fight so they all hate me and on top of it Al's mad at me for confronting him about the Elizabeth thing." I flopped down onto my stomach on the bed next to where Hutch sat.

"You called him out on it? Aw, Rose, that makes me look stupid."

Too exhausted to argue with anyone else I just mumbled, "Sorry."

Hutch looked at me for a moment before patting my forehead awkwardly. For Hutch that was an enormously large gesture of comfort and affection. I was touched.

I didn't make it back to the Gryffindor common room until past midnight, having elected to spend the remainder of the day studying in the Hufflepuff common room and popping down to the kitchens with Hutch to make up for the dinner I'd skipped. He didn't say much throughout the course of the night but it was nice to be with him.

There was only one person in the common room- Jake, who appeared to be writing an essay.

"Night, mate," I mumbled, as I sleepily made my way towards the stairs.

"Rose, I didn't see you at dinner," he said looking perplexed.

I blushed. I reiterate: I had a childhood crush on Jake when I was little, but I don't feel that way anymore. Still, things like him noticing my absence make me blush. "Yeah," I said, "I was with my brother in Hufflepuff all night."

He seemed to sense in my tone that something was amiss and asked if everything was alright. I briefly explained the events and how all my friends were inconsiderate dillweeds. "But, you know, now I'm blissfully unobliged to go to the stupid Ball anyway," I said.

"We should go together," he said, as if he had been suddenly struck by the fancy. "I think it'd be better than sitting in all night moping, don't you?"

"Wha- are you sure?" I said, confused. I wouldn't have expected him to be that desperate to go, especially considering his freshly dumped state.

"Yeah, I really think we should."

"…Ok," I said. "…Night, Jake."

"Night, Rose."

The whole conversation felt like it took place in a weird alternate universe haze but somehow I had gained a date and was going to the Ball again.

The extremely draining emotional crises of the day had left me devoid of much feeling either way. I supposed it would be better to go than not, especially with a fun and handsome date like Jake. I didn't even have the energy to consider what Roxie would think of it.

_Lily_, I thought suddenly. Feeling a little guilty I hadn't considered seeking her confidence sooner, I resolved to consult her the next day. For now, all I could manage was to crawl into my bed and drift into a hopefully dreamless sleep.


	15. Firsts

It was a Christmas of firsts.

First time I had a relatively mild Yule Ball. Considering the circumstances, you would think it would have been riddled with drama. After all, I went with my cousin's recent ex whilst in the middle of a fight with my three best friends. But Jake and I steered clear of pretty much everyone. We mingled a little with James, when he wasn't hanging all over Nicole. Hutch and Lily kept us company too but otherwise we were outcasts and we embraced it. We danced vigorously and weirdly on the outskirts of the dance floor and sat at an isolated table far from everyone else. It was strangely empowering to just blow everyone off, although I'd rather not make a habit out of it. So I still don't even know what happened between Cam, Andie and Frank or how things went for Elizabeth and Al.

Because it was the first Christmas we didn't spend with the Potters. We had our normal Weasley family bash Christmas Eve with the entire clan, but we usually spend Christmas evening just us and the Potters. When I filled Mum and Dad in on what had transpired, Mum said she had wanted to spend a Christmas with her parents anyway and that this sounds like a good year to do it. I wondered if that was a bit immature, but Mum insisted even if I wasn't fighting with Al she'd want to spend this Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Granger. Al, I take it didn't see it that way. Aunt Ginny told my mum that he couldn't believe I'd call off Christmas just because of some stupid argument about a dance. At this point though, it wasn't about the dance, it was about pride. I didn't want to be the one to apologize; I still don't think I was wrong. Instead, I opted to not face them and leave that awkwardness until after the holidays.

It was the first Christmas since I left for Hogwarts that I just wanted to be at home. I didn't want to see anyone but Mum, Dad, Hutch and Rigby. I retreated into my family, much like I retreated into the blanket forts Hutch and I built. But like my blanket fort, the more I pulled my family in to wrap around me, the more things began to collapse. The impending return to school terrified me and I began to wish I'd made amends with my friends. What if too much time had elapsed and there was actual permanent damage now?

Platform 9 ¾ would hold the answers to the fear gathering at the pit of my stomach. Tentatively, I pushed my trolley through the crowd, keeping an eye out for Al, Frank or Andie. I hoped to see Al first, presuming that he would be the easiest to talk to. As Mum was pulling me into a goodbye hug, I saw Andie's blonde head moving in our direction. My stomach churned. To be honest, I wasn't sure I even wanted to reconcile with her. Our friendship hadn't been very healthy for the past year now and I still resented her for prioritizing Cam over everything else. But before I could make up my mind as to what to do, I was being ushered towards the train by Dad and fell into step with her.

We made eye contact and I nearly winced. She's much more confrontational than I am and her determined look told me I was in for another telling off.

Instead, she let go of her trunk and pulled me into a fierce hug. "Rose, I'm so sorry."

Shocked and confused, I managed to kind of hug her back before she pulled me onto the train and into an empty compartment.

"I know I've been the biggest bitch to you."

"You haven't been a—"

"Yes, I have. I was really pissed when we left for holiday and when I went home I told my mum everything and she basically told me that you were absolutely right."

I listened in stunned silence. Andie had never been very self-aware and definitely never like to admit to her mistakes. To sit and listen to her do all this eagerly after only a handful of weeks was equally shocking if she had returned to school with a full-grown mustache.

"At first, I was upset that she would take your side and I wasn't willing to listen to her corrections. But she explained that I've been neglecting everything, important things, since I started dating Cam. My marks, my friends; I haven't thought about anything but us. I realized how much that must have sucked for you guys. Then my mom pointed out how you must have felt after I stole your date just to prove a point to my boyfriend."

"You didn't know he was my date."

"Yeah, but I should have. And Frank was stupid for agreeing to go but I haven't been treating him right either. I was too distracted to notice before but… it's now come to my attention that he's going through _something_ in regards to me and I've been taking advantage of him." Her voice lowered and she looked at me pleadingly. "I didn't mean to hurt him and I feel really bad, I just don't see him that way."

"That's not your fault," I said shaking my head. "You can't make yourself feel something that you don't."

"I do need to be more considerate though. And I need to focus on my schoolwork and being a better friend, so I told Cam we need to take a break."

My eyes widened. "Wow, Andie, really?"

"Yeah, I talked to Mum about it a lot and I think we could have stayed together and I _want_ to stay together. But I would be more likely to get off track again so, for now, we're just going to keep our distance. At least until I feel a bit more mature."

"I'm sorry you couldn't talk to me about this. I'm sorry we haven't talked in a while," I said, all my previous feelings of resentment and discomfort melting away. "How did he take it?"

"He thought we needed to face challenges together and that if we're going to have a real shot we're going to need to learn how to balance our relationship with the rest of our lives. I see his point, but I still said I wanted to rebuild my life myself first and then reintroduce a relationship in it."

"That's very level-headed. This is all so mature! Not to sound like a mom or anything but I'm really proud of you. And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have let my emotions build up like that; I should have talked to you and told you how I felt sooner."

There was a knock at the compartment door and Malfoy poked his head in. I was a little taken aback, as I hadn't seen him since a brief hello to him and Hannah at the Ball. He looked…he looked _real_ good.

"Weasley, you're going to miss the prefect meeting. Care to come and grace us with your presence?"

Regaining my composure, I gave Andie a quick hug and promised I'd be back to finish our talk. I followed Malfoy out of the compartment.

"That was affectionate. I thought you guys were in a row?" he said inquisitively.

"How did you know that?"

"Al told me a bit of what happened. Although I'm a little hurt you didn't confide in me yourself," he said, faking a pout.

"Well, speaking of not confiding in each other, you failed to divulge any information on your new girlfriend."

"You're always so judgmental of my love interests. And I wanted this one to go differently and it has. So I look forward to continuing to not tell you about my love life because it's going smashingly so far."

"So she _is_ your girlfriend?" I said. I was not entirely surprised, but still, inexplicably, my hands were clammy and my heart was pounding in my ears. The question went unanswered because we entered the prefect's compartment at that time and sat down at opposite sides. He settled in by Hannah and I found myself next to Frank.

Frank and I glanced at each other. After a brief pause we both mumbled in unison, "Sorry."

And that was that. We didn't need to elaborate. We just needed to get back to normal.

As the Heads went over the agenda for the second half of the year, my eyes kept wandering over to Malfoy and Hannah. Their hands were intertwined and Malfoy's thumb was moving in little circles across her skin. I had to consciously remind myself not to make a face. Hannah's by far the best girl Malfoy's dated; I should be pleased his taste was improving.

After the meeting, Frank and I headed back to the compartment where Andie was waiting. We didn't discuss anything revolving around the past few weeks or the fighting that had transpired. Al was the only one I hadn't resolved anything with, but, as he wasn't with us, there wasn't much that could be done on that front now. I'd find him later and we'd reconcile. I tried not to think about the fact that he was probably with Elizabeth right now. I wasn't sure if I would be able to pretend I supported that relationship when my brother's heartbroken face was still seared in my memory.

I didn't have the opportunity to talk to Al until after dinner. He had eaten at the Hufflepuff table with Elizabeth. I had to admit, they did make a cute couple—they sure looked good together. Al was finally growing into his gangly limbs, although he was still shorter than my most of the Weasley boys. Somehow, his personal style had recently come into fashion as well. His cardigans and skinny ties were suddenly on trend and the glasses that had always been a necessity now fit as a hip accessory as well. He still had ridiculously messy dark hair and was still lanky and thin but it worked for him now. Elizabeth was always adorable and never had to limp through an awkward phase. Slight and slender, she exuded an elegance that had eluded her siblings. Her brunette hair was cropped into a cute pixie cut that I wish I was daring and elfish-looking enough to try. Both had lovely green eyes.

Whatever.

Malfoy, too, was at the Hufflepuff table, talking to Hannah about how fun it is to be blonde, probably.

Whatever.

So, it wasn't until dinner ended and everyone headed up to the common room. Thanks to our lifelong friendship and close relation, as soon as we made eye contact, he knew what to do.

Wordlessly, we deviated from the crowd and made our way towards the kitchens.

"I'm sorry," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "You know I was just looking out for Hutch, and I stand by that. But I regret that things got ugly between us."

"I know. I'm sorry too," he said.

There was a long pause. Frankly, I wasn't satisfied yet. I still thought he was kind of in the wrong.

He exhaled. "I hate that I hurt Hugo." He rubbed his temples. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal; just a little crush. Sometimes I think he's still nine years old— Lily too—but I need to give him more credit than that. And I blew his feelings off because I was being selfish but I really like Elizabeth."

We entered the kitchens and Bitsy, an eager house-elf, brought us hot chocolate and biscuits. We thanked her, and, as was customary thanks to my mother, gave them each a Sickle. Different house-elves accept payment in different ways; some are grateful and use it for themselves but I've seen Bitsy fashioning her coins into an intricate necklace. To each their own.

As we sat with our hot chocolate, I asked Al what came over him so quickly.

"I have no idea. I always thought she was cool but in the last few months I started realizing just how just, like, bright and vibrant she is. She's just so pretty and she's just-I don't know- she's like, _alluring_. I don't know if I've ever used that word before and I'm embarrassed to be doing so now, but deal with it. She's creative, she's inspiring…what could I do? I don't know."

I had never seen that look on my cousin's face. Knowing that he truly cared for Elizabeth and was taking this seriously made me more forgiving.

"Thank you for telling me all this. And thank you for admitting you hurt Hugo and you were being a big, fat, stupid jerk." He shot me a look. "You are allowed to date Elizabeth, since you guys like each other and all-"

"-_Allowed_?" he interjected.

"-And I will support you," I spoke over him. "But maybe you should talk to Hutch? Just explain yourself a little. I think he deserves that."

"I don't think he'd want to hear about it. I wouldn't want to talk about it if I were him, wouldn't that just make it worse?"

"I don't know. Maybe. It's your decision, I guess."

He nodded. I put my chin on his shoulder and he grinned. "Missed you," he said.

I sat back up. "I missed you too. And I'm glad you're happy. I went into fierce protective mode because Hutch is my baby brother, but I love you too. You're my cousin and my best friend and I love you too."

Later that evening, I heard a soft knock on my door. I was the only one in bed, all of the other girls were hanging out in the common room. In my pajamas and with my hair in plaits, I padded over to the door to see who was there.

Lily grinned at me, tossing her long red locks over her shoulder and asking, "Everyone all good again?"

I beamed. I felt like I hadn't talked to my cousin in forever. The two of us weren't fighting, but the tension between Al and I had kind of separated us from the Potters.

She came in and sat down on my bed and crossed her legs.

"How're you, Lil?" I asked, joining her on my bed, but choosing to snuggle up under my blanket.

She smiled, but it was a shallow smile. Lily specializes in ear-to-ear, sparkly-eyed grins, and this one was closed lip and didn't reach her eyes.

"What's the matter?" I asked, reaching out and touching her arm. She shot me a weird look and I retracted it. "Ok, that was a little weird, sorry." Lily laughed. "No more forced physical contact, just tell me what's going on."

She groaned and said, "I just overheard Thea talking to Caroline about me." She paused and her face crinkled a little. "She was saying that I was shallow and always desperate for attention and—and that guys only fancy me because of my parents. Stuff like that," she said sadly.

I sat up angrily. "How dare she! That…" I growled, "ugh, excuse me but what a _bitch_."

Lily shook her head and frowned. She seemed to be having trouble getting words out. "That's what I thought at first. I got all defensive and worked up but then I started thinking, is she right? I mean, look at my life, look at what I care about! Witch Weekly articles and silly Quidditch games and boys!"

"There's nothing wrong with that," I said.

"It's so pointless and _stupid_! And for all the dating and obsessing over boys, I've never had anything remotely serious and she's probably right about why they want to go out with me anyways."

"Now, Lil, you are amazing and all the boys should fancy you because of your terrific personality. But if there was any superficial reason for a guy to pursue you it would be because you're impossibly gorgeous and popular," I said reassuringly.

She shook her head.

"Look," I said. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. And I don't think you should try to change because of what some jealous teenage girls have to say. But if _you_ want to better _yourself_ you could pick an area of your life and work on remodeling it."

Lily looked thoughtful and gave a weak little nod. Feeling the need to really lay the comfort on thick, I gestured for her to scoot over to me. I began to plait her long, silky hair like I used to when we were younger. Lily actually was the one who was really great at braiding and was always begging me to let her play with my hair, but I knew she'd love that I took the initiative to do hers.

"I guess I should work on my 'love life' then," she said.

"Well, maybe, if you want, you could the next guy you date be someone you could see as your boyfriend? Try something new?" She nodded in agreement.

As I clumsily wove her hair into a plait, I thought of potential candidates for Lily. Callum Graham was a cute Slytherin in her year but I was fairly certain she'd turned him down already. Paul Vivian, the sixth year Hufflepuff prefect, was recently single and definitely a catch. But he was probably on the rebound.

Then suddenly, in a flash of madness, I had it.

"What about Frank?" I said, seizing her hair and yanking her head backwards.

"What _about_ Frank?" she asked, rubbing her head.

"You should go out with Frank!" It was kind of genius. Frank had almost completely exited his awkward phase and was now pretty good looking. His curly light brown hair was now a little cleaner cut and managed now instead of too long and floppy. His acne was cleared up and he had taken to running along the lake in the mornings, which had resulted in a nice enough physique as well.

They were both in need of rejuvenation and already had a solid foundation of friendship. Plus my best friend and someone who's practically sister? Ideal. We could get Frank officially locked into the family!

"Why on earth would I go out with Frank? I've never even thought about him that way," Lily said, like I had suggested she date her cat, Mickey.

"Why wouldn't you consider Frank? He's smart and sweet and he'd be a great boyfriend."

"Well, why wouldn't _you_ consider Frank?" she shot back.

"Don't be ridiculous." I said.

"Rose that would be so awkward. What you even thinking?"

But the wheels were already in motion. I would bring them happiness and love. I barely needed their consent. This was happening.


	16. From Bad to Worse

With great power, comes great responsibility. I have discovered my great power and failed to use it for good. My boredom mixed with my desire to finally be in control of the things going on led me to make some serious mistakes.

I managed to fabricate feelings between Frank and Lily where none previously existed. Through skillful manipulations, within a month I had both of them contemplating each other. Throughout another week, I craftily dropped hints to each of them that the other liked them. With another week of touching up and finessing, I had both of them confessing their feelings to me.

They started dating in mid-February, to everyone's surprise but mine. Al had initially made a fuss, until he was reminded that _he_ was dating Frank's little sister and therefore didn't have much ground to stand on.

I got to see a new side to both of them. Lily had only ever engaged in flirtations and fooling arounds, nothing serious. Frank's only romantic interaction had been snogging Kristin Twicken one night in fifth year, nothing more. Lily brought Frank out of his shell and encouraged him to have fun and Frank grounded Lily and improved her self-esteem. It was especially nice to see Lily with someone who appreciated her. She never let herself really, truly like and open up to guys; she doesn't usually get vulnerable.

It was also great bonding time for me. Both of them were constantly updating me, seeking my advice, asking my opinion. It was incredibly validating. I felt closer to Lily than ever and cherished the late chats where she told me how much she liked Frank and how scary and exciting it all was.

Things were tremendous. And yet, my tone indicates that it was all about to go terribly wrong doesn't it?

First off, I was exhausted. Between challenging coursework and increasing prefect duties, I was stretched for time and energy. Not to mention my "trusty" "partner" Malfoy was always blowing off patrols to be with Hannah. He'd beg me to cover for him and promise to make it up to me and for some reason I'd comply. So I had spent the last few months scrambling to cover twice as many prefect duties and grow increasingly frustrated with Malfoy's lack of work ethic.

Secondly, on a rainy day at the end of March, Professor Longbottom called me into his office to "discuss my future". We had already met last year, as was customary, to talk about my O. and what I would have to achieve to further my career goals. Except I wasn't sure of what those were yet. And Professor Longbottom wouldn't let me just take all the subjects at N.E.W.T levels in the hopes of covering all my bases when it came time to find a career. I had chosen to take Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Muggle Studies and Herbology. It was a risk not taking Potions, as it was a valuable skill to have in any field, but it wasn't my strongest subject and I didn't want to struggle through one class and pull focus away from the others.

Neville—sorry Professor Longbottom—sat me down and explained that, no pressure, but this was a good time for students to begin thinking about a particular career path or field of interest.

"I know it seems soon," he said sympathetically, placing a cup of tea and a biscuit on the side table next to me, "but I just want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to help you along in this time."

I nodded, furrowing my brow and biting my lip. "I…don't…know," I sputtered. "I wish I had an inkling, I wish I had something to say but…" I shrugged, helpless.

"Well, Transfiguration, Charms and Muggle Studies are your best subjects," he said, examining my marks. "Closely followed by History of Magic and DADA. You have a lot of talent and skill, at least we've got a lot to work with here." He smiled warmly, his brown eyes crinkling with sincere affection. "Would you consider teaching?"

I crinkled my nose. "No offense, Professor, but I don't think so. It's not the worst thing I could think of but I think I'd struggle with doing the same kind of thing, day in day out, every year. That could go for a lot of jobs though."

"Now there are some professions such as Auror or Healer that would require a N.E.W.T in Potions, but if you were really interested, there are things that can be done."

"No, I don't want to be in the thick of the action like an Auror. I'm not very battle-keen. And I don't have the stomach to be a Healer. When Hugo cut his foot open on glass last summer I nearly fainted."

For a long time I had kept panic at bay, but now it was bubbling up in me, rising from the depths of my stomach up to my throat, where I felt it might strangle me.

Neville advised me to think on the matter some more and gave me some pamphlets with more options to look over and another biscuit for the road.

With my biscuit and leaflets in hand and anxiety within, I asked Neville if it would be ok if he gave me a hug.

"Of course, Rose, of course," he said, embracing me. He was so big and warm and his wooly cardigan was so comforting and familiar. I missed my Dad terribly. Easter holidays were coming up soon, thank goodness.

My head was swimming with all kinds of thoughts about my life post-Hogwarts in the library later that day. How had it come up so fast? I used to think about how great it would be to graduate and get on with my life but now everything felt so uncertain and the idea that I would have to be responsible for myself was scary.

I sat staring at the same page of my Herbology book for the better part of an hour when Frank sat down next to me. I could tell immediately that something was wrong.

"Wait, what is it?" I asked frantically, not giving him a chance to respond. "You look sad. And I know this expression, you look," I paused, trying to work it out. "You look like you're feeling guilty." He hung his head in silent confirmation. "Wait, what are you feeling guilty about?"

Frank looked up at me from under furrowed brows. "You're going to kill me."

My stomach churned. Please don't say it.

"I don't…I don't really like Lily anymore," he said, bracing himself like I might hit him.

Instead I just slumped down in my chair and laid my forehead on my textbook. I should have known this would end disastrously. "Why?" I moaned.

"I don't know! I should. She's great and I did like her, but for some reason it started to feel forced. On my end at least. I tried to change how I feel but I can't. I feel horrible."

I dragged my hands across my face.

"What do I do?" he asked.

"I don't know, mate! I don't know!"

"Well, you've got to help me, this is your fault anyway!"

It was my fault. I should have never pushed them together.

I talked Frank through the best possible break up speech I could devise, but it still wasn't enough. On an appropriately stormy night, he pulled Lily aside for a talk, telling her how great she was and how much he had enjoyed being with her but that he would like to go back to just being friends.

Frank had immediately met up with me in the kitchens afterwards to tell me how it went. "She seemed just really confused. I thought she might have picked up on me pulling away lately but she was legitimately shocked that I was breaking it off with her. Then she got a little angry and I'm pretty sure she's never going to talk to me again."

"Oh no, she got mad?" I sighed. The more hurt Lily is, the more defensive she gets. I hope I hadn't done some serious damage on my cousin here and that she wouldn't bury her feelings under anger.

Frank mimicked my sigh but whereas mine was a weighty sigh of sorrow, his was one of relief. He smiled a little and grabbed a cupcake off a platter floating by.

"Hey!" I smacked him in the arm and snatched his cupcake.

"What was that for?" he said, reaching for the cupcake back. I pulled away. He huffed and crossed his arms, looking upset.

"You are not allowed to get more emotional about missing out on a cupcake than about hurting Lily. C'mon, man!"

"I'm sorry, I'm just relieved!"

"I hate you right now, I really do."

Lily was waiting for me on my bed when I got back to the dormitory. Her mouth was pursed and she glanced at me with chilly eyes as I walked through the door.

"Did you know about this?" she said harshly.

I wasn't sure how to play it and in a panic move I said, "About what?"

"Frank broke up with me," she said, looking at her fiddling hands but maintaining her cool composure.

"What?" I said, hopefully convincingly. "What happened?" I sat down on the bed tentatively.

"He just ended it. I don't get it." She paused and I sat by very awkwardly. "I just don't understand! You told me how much he liked me, that he had the hugest crush on me and everything. You told me I was out of his league, you made it sound like—" she got choked up and stopped talking

"Lil, I—".

"You know what, I changed my mind. I don't want to talk about this right now." She briskly stood and exited before I could protest.

Feeling helpless and angry and sad, I curled up under my blanket. I couldn't be bothered to put on my pajamas; I just wanted to fall asleep so I didn't have to think about the awful situation I had created.

**-Malfoy's POV-**

The last Hogsmeade day of the year happened to coincide with my five-month anniversary with Hannah so we planned to have butterbeers and sneak off for a broom ride to a picnic in the surrounding mountains. Excessively romantic? Perhaps. But considering our last few "dates" had just been hurried snogs while I was supposed to be on prefect duty, I owed it to show her a real classy time.

I was supposed to be on prefect duty today in fact, but Weasley would cover for me if I asked.

Hannah and I held hands down to the bottom of the staircase, where Wealsey and I usually met up before going on patrols. She was sitting at the foot, looking like an absolute mess.

Detecting some strangeness from Weasley, I walked Hannah to the doors. "Hey, why don't you grab us a spot and I'll meet you down there?"

She glanced at Weasley and then back to me. "Okay. Hurry up though!" With a kiss on my cheek she was off.

I strode over to where Weasley was staring blankly into the distance. Her hair was more out of control than usual, frizzy and unkempt to a distressing degree. She looked pale, like she might be sick, and had dark circles under her eyes. I'd never seen her so drained.

"Hey," I said tentatively.

Her eyes flickered to me and she blinked a few times before recognizing me and remembering why I was there. "Right. Prefect duty. Let's go." Like a lifeless robot she began to stand but I stopped her and sat down beside her.

"Actually, about that. It's my anniversary with Hannah and I was going to ask if you'd cover for me on patrols. If you can't that's ok…" I paused, waiting for her to tell me she'd do it but she just stared. "…but I'd really appreciate it. And I'd owe you one."

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said sarcastically. "Whatever, run off with your girlfriend _again_. I don't want to be around you anyway," she stormed off exasperatedly.

"Wait, Weasley, what's going on with you?" I said following her outside.

Still walking at a quick pace, she whipped her head around, hair flying. "Don't pretend to care just cause you need a favor from me. Just leave me alone."

I paused, thinking for a second before heading briskly towards The Three Broomsticks.

Ten minutes later I found Weasley coming out of Honeydukes.

"I told Hannah I couldn't get out of it," I said, out of breath from jogging around Hogsmeade. "I'm here now. So will you tell me what's going on?"

Her eyes widened in surprised but she still looked uneasy. After a beat, she motioned for me to walk with her. I fell into step beside her.

"So, what's with you, Red? I've never seen you so out of sorts."

"I know, I look awful," she said, self-consciously running her fingers through her hair.

"It's not that," I said, trying to convey sincerity. "I'm just—" I paused, unsure of whether or not to say it. "I'm worried about you. You've been so withdrawn and testy lately."

"It's just a bunch of stupid things. You wouldn't care," she said, brushing it off.

I dragged her over to a bench in a more secluded area. "All of it. Go."

She slumped down, looking defeated but already less tense. She told me about her matchmaking fiasco with her cousin and Longbottom and that she feared she had ruined her relationship with Lily and the group dynamic to boot.

"It's not just that. It's all this talk of the future too," she exhaled. "Everyone's deciding what they're going to do. Roxie, James and Jake all have job offers. Al's got an apprenticeship with a Healer at St. Mungo's lined up for the summer. Andie, Jade, even my little brother, everyone at least knows what they want to do. You're going into Magical Law. Meanwhile, I feel like I know even less now than I ever have."

"You don't have to have it all figured out right now. You don't need to know what you want to do for the rest of your life yet. That's something that'll come in time."

"It's not just that I haven't figured it out. I don't even know what I'd be good at. It's not like subjects I do well in translate to a career I want to pursue. And I didn't take N.E.W.T Potions, so that's undoubtedly going to bite me in the ass now. What if I do figure out what I want to do, but it requires N.E.W.T Potions?" Tears threatened to well in her eyes, but she blinked rapidly to prevent them from forming. "I feel like I work so hard and study so much and it does nothing. I don't know what I'm good at. And don't you dare say I'll get a job because of my family, please don't say that to me."

I reached for her hand, but realizing how that might come across, instead ended up awkwardly grabbing her wrist. I ran with it, holding on forcefully. "No. Weasley, you're not going to get a job because of your family, you're going to get a job because you're going to be the best candidate. I can't believe you're doubting yourself when you've spent the last five years proving to me how smart and talented you are." She was blinking fiercely again. I put my hands on her shoulders and looked right into her almost-teary eyes. "You can do _whatever_ you want." She nodded meekly and I let her go.

I gave her the courtesy of looking away while she caught the few tears that had escaped. "You're crazy," I said, still not making eye contact. "You're good at loads of things. You're the best at Transfiguration and damn good at Charms too, that'll get you anywhere. You could study Muggles and report on their culture. You love history, you could be the next Bathilda Bagshot." Her nose scrunched up in disgust. "Fine, but you could write. I've sat next to you for years; I know you're a great writer."

"Are you saying you copied off me?" she quipped, a hint of her usual spunk surfacing.

"Only the assignments I found too boring to do." She rolled her eyes. "Seriously though. Writing is something you like and are good at. And there are plenty of options to explore. You could go into journalism, do research studies, write fiction, anything. I'm just giving you some options. And listen, the Lily/Longbottom thing will blow over."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you, Malfoy. For all of it." She was looking down, still avoiding eye contact. She laughed, blushing and wiping her face again. "I must look like a mess! I'm the ugliest crier."

"You actually look really pretty after you've cried," I said, offhand. She snapped her head towards me in surprise. "It's your eyes," I said. "The tears bring out the color in them …or something," I said, trying and failing to play it off as even remotely casual.

She stared at me intently, brows furrowed and those eyes shimmering prettily. "Are _you_ alright? Now I'm the one who's worried."

I scoffed. "Forgive me for trying to help! That's what I get I suppose."

She bit her lip. "I'm really sorry I derailed your date; I'm supremely embarrassed. But thank you for coming after me. And listening and helping and everything. I'm glad you did."

"Oh, well. I'm pretty good to my friends."

She smiled and then said, "Please, go back to Hannah."

"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Thanks. We can still salvage the most of the day." Even though I should've been running back to my girlfriend, I stayed planted next to Weasley.

"Go," she said, elbowing me. I looked at her again, a long, lingering look, before standing and heading back to Hannah.


	17. The Dark Rose Rises

"Stop right there!" I said, grabbing a Slytherin sixth year by the arm. "Don't think I didn't notice you slipping that potions vial into your robes, give it here." He reluctantly did as he was bid, and I sniffed the contents of the vials. "Firewhiskey. Just as I thought. I'll be confiscating this." He and his friend whined, but I shook my head, "You're lucky I'm not throwing you out! This is a warning."

"Come on, Weasley," Malfoy said, suddenly next to me. "It's the end of the year ball, they're just having a little fun."

"I don't know what you expect me to do when they're in flagrant violation of school rules. I have a job to do. It wouldn't kill you to do your part, you know," I said, clutching the vial and shooing the Slytherins. "I'm being extremely generous here."

"It's a party, Red, you could do with having a little fun yourself!" he said, moving towards the vial, which I yanked out of his reach.

"I will when this school year is finally over and I go to Ireland for the summer. For now, I'm just a prefect on duty. I didn't even come with a date. I'm shunning fun," I crossed my arms defiantly. The awful year had finally beaten me and I had thrown myself whole-heartedly into three things: my schoolwork, my prefect duties and self-pity.

"You didn't bring a date?! For Merlin's sake, I thought you were kidding when you mentioned that the other day." He looked uncomfortable. "Wow, Weasley, I feel really bad for you. Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm perfectly fine! Balls have never gone in my favor anyways. I'm just here volunteering my time because I spend so much time organizing this dumb thing. Plus, the staff is picking Head Girl right about now and I _need_ it to be me."

He looked at me with concern and I was about to further insist that I was fine when Hannah approached us. Petite, tanned and blonde, she was everything I wasn't. She wore a very chic, shimmery dress that accentuated her athletic figure and her sleek up-do was elegant without trying too hard. Lovely, just lovely.

"Hey guys!" she said energetically. "I just requested 'Banshee Bop,' I wanted to rock out with you," she said, tugging on Malfoy's arm. "Rose, come dance with us! Where's your date?" My stomach churned.

"Rose is here stag, poor thing," Malfoy said with his trademark, infuriating smirk.

"Aw, now you should definitely join us!" Hannah said enthusiastically.

Rather than tell her the truth, which was that I'd rather babysit a horde of Blast-Ended Skrewts, I simply politely declined, citing the need for the ladies room as an excuse. She implored me to find them later and that she wanted a dance off, and then they headed off, hand in hand. A few months ago I would have loved to have a dorky dance off with Hannah, but now the thought seemed miserable.

Moving towards the food and beverages, which I planned to scan for any jinxes, I continued to watch the two of them, disdain building. Malfoy had been supremely irritating lately. First, he gives me this really sweet pep talk and is totally there for me, and then he abandons me at every turn in the weeks that follow. I continued to perform _our_ prefect duties essentially by myself, same going for our joint assignments. He'd hardly paid me any attention at all since my Hogsmeade breakdown. Why were he and Hannah even still together? It's not like him to be so…committed and relationship-y.

Al, Elizabeth, and Frank were standing nearby the snack table. Frank was stuffing his face with butterbeer flavored bonbons and Al and Elizabeth were chatting. That was a couple that didn't bother me. Hugo had gotten accustomed to it and even seemed to be moving on—according to my sources, he liked Emily Weaver now. I didn't see as much of my cousin as I used to, but he and Elizabeth really made each other happy and were only a tiny bit insufferable with the public affection. Not even remotely as annoying as Cam and Andie had been. I hadn't spent time with Frank much either because Lily was still sore over the way things went between them and I didn't want to offend her by hanging out with him all the time. Although she was barely speaking to me anyways, so who knew if it was making any difference.

I chatted with them for a few minutes, and was slightly cheered by their company. I felt like I had been doing so much on my own recently. And now that I thought of it, I had spent most of the year on the outs with one or more of my friends. That was something I certainly never wished to repeat.

A while later, I was surveying the scene near the back of the room when Headmaster Green approached me. He was young for a headmaster, only in his fifties or so and his energetic countenance always made him seem younger. He was a very pleasant balance between studious and fun loving—he took academics very seriously, but also loved a good celebration, and it was he that had instituted the balls at Christmas and the end of term for the sixth and seventh years.

"Good evening, Miss Weasley," he said, adjusting the square, thin-framed glasses he wore. "I hope you're enjoying yourself.

"I am, thank you Headmaster," I replied.

"Excellent work on the decorations, it looks tremendous."

"Thank you, sir! Deidre had a lot of great ideas, we just had to figure out how to execute them. I think it came together quite nicely," I said.

"Miss Weasley, I wanted to commend you on the fine job you've done this year, both as a student and as a prefect. We've been very impressed with your hard work."

I exhaled a little in relief. Maybe my efforts would finally pay off!

I thanked him and he smiled a little before saying, "We're not supposed to give these things away, but I can't help but tell you that you are our top choice for Head Girl next year."

My eyes widened and I clapped my hand to my mouth, bursting with excitement. Beaming, I thanked him. "That is really gratifying to hear, sir. I'm so glad all my hard work has been noticed and appreciated by the faculty. Whether or not I'm actually chosen, it means so much to be recognized," I added the last bit so I wouldn't sound over confident.

He shook my hand, looking genuinely as thrilled as I was. Headmaster Green always gave the impression that he really cared a great deal for his students.

"May I ask who's in consideration for Head Boy?" Even though we hadn't been seeing much of each other lately, I was still hoping it would be Frank. We'd have a lot of fun as Head Boy and Girl.

"Oh, I really can't reveal that, Miss Weasley," he said, looking like he was trying quite hard to appear stern. After a pause, he cracked a smile and whispered, "Scorpius Malfoy is the lead candidate. That should please you, the two of you have done some excellent work together."

The anger and resentment once again rose up within me and suddenly I felt reckless. Reckless and underappreciated and angry. I scoffed. "Right, the work _we_ did. Forgive me Headmaster, I know my opinion doesn't matter but Scorpius Malfoy is all wrong for Head Boy."

He smiled kindly, "You're correct Rose, your opinion will not be taken into consideration in this matter. But please tell me why you think Mr. Malfoy would not make a good Head Boy."

"He's lazy, never does any work. He only gets good marks because he gets by on his natural intelligence," I rolled my eyes, "or because _I_ cover for him. The position wouldn't mean anything to him sir; he doesn't any of it seriously. He doesn't care about his marks or his duties or anything. There are plenty of other prefects who would do justice to the title, which I can guarantee Scorpius will not."

Headmaster Green looked amused. "Thank you for your contribution, but the faculty and myself will be deciding based on our own reasoning."

"Of course, of course. I got carried away, that sometimes happens when it comes to him."

He bid me farewell and returned to his seat at the head of the table.

And for the second time that night, Malfoy was suddenly beside me and it was like my stomach plummeted right out of my body. I could feel myself flush and was certain my cheeks were flaming red.

"Malfoy, I—"

"Great. Bloody brilliant Rose. You're going to completely trash me to the Headmaster without a second thought?" It had been a long time since I had seen him angry like this. His fists were clenched, his jaw was jutting out and his eyes were alight with rage. "I can't believe I ever-" he stopped short and grunted in frustration.

I wrapped my arms around myself. "I'm sorry. Ok? I'm sorry! But you can't tell me it isn't the truth!" I said defensively.

"Oh, Merlin, drop it already," he said. "Stop being my friend when it suits you and acting like I'm the bloody devil himself when you're feeling," he paused, throwing his hands up in defeat, "I don't know, pissy or something."

I grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the hall into the cool night air of the courtyard. The moonlight made his hair look more silver than blonde and that, coupled with his expression, made him look strikingly like his father. I stood up a little taller to combat any feelings of intimidation he might evoke.

"I am not _pissy_. You," I said, poking his chest, "have been nothing but unreliable as a partner. Ever since you started dating Hannah, not that you were so great before, but ever since you got a girlfriend you've consistently abandoned me at every turn!" My finger was still on his chest and he coolly plucked it off. I was reminded suddenly of our first meeting, our first fight on the train so many years ago.

"I didn't realize you needed so much help patrolling the corridors every other week," he said rolling his eyes. "I'll try to remember that you need constant attention next time."

"Malfoy, I don't think it's that ridiculous of me to want you to pull your weight some of the time in our joint duties!"

"Don't give yourself so much credit. You've been half-assing it all year. You're distracted and moody and your work is suffering for it. Haven't you noticed my heavy revisions in nearly every joint assignment we've done?"

I sputtered. "That- that's not true, I would've known if—"

"No, you'd be too preoccupied with whatever feud you were in at the time. Andrea, Longbottom, Potter, Lily, have you tarnished every single one of your friendships this year? Take a good look, Weasley, maybe you're the problem." There was a cruelty in his voice she hadn't heard in a long time.

Ignoring his harsh words, I said, "I don't know why you even care. You've never acted like any of this was important to you before. I've never even heard you talk about being Head Boy."  
"Weasley, this is my future, being Head Boy could make or break my chances of getting a job after we graduate. I thought you knew me better than that by now. Just because I internalize my stress and don't have a public freak out once a week doesn't mean these things aren't important to me."

"Well, you should act like it a little more," I said, feeling less and less like I had a case. I paused, then, "I don't know why you're so worked up; the headmaster said that my opinion didn't matter to them."

His expression changed, the fury and frustration melting into disappointment. He looked hurt, something I wasn't prepared for. "It matters to me." With one last pointed look, he strode out of the courtyard.

I stood there, heart-pounding, stomach churning.

_I'm such a jerk. _

I felt like I had been shot with a bullet of self-loathing. Malfoy may have fired it but I had loaded the gun and put it in his hands.

Once again, Rose Weasley leaves a Ball early because she is a foolish, foolish girl. I practically ran back to Gryffindor tower. Storming into my empty room, I got on my knees and searched under my bed for my folder of work from the past few months. Flipping through my partner projects with Malfoy, I found that he had been telling the truth, and had made significant revisions and corrected some stupid mistakes of mine. Self-loathing rose within me, slowly, but powerfully, the way a tsunami gathers strength before demolishing an unsuspecting island.

I sat on my bed for a moment, wrapping my arms around myself, marinating in my guilt and regret. Unable to sit there with nothing but my thoughts for cruel company, I quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and quill and fled the deafening silence of my room.

By the time I reached the Owlery, I was freezing. My hands shaking, either from the cold or the recent events, I executed a Lumos spell non-verbally, put quill to parchment and began to write. I let out every feeling that had been clogging up my heart for the past few months. With aching self-awareness, I chronicled the damage that had been done to the friendships in my life and the part my own faults had played in that. I wrote about my fears for the future and doubt in my abilities. Writing it all out in utter honesty helped but made me all the more frustrated with myself.

Exhaling, I looked at my finished product and then at the owls. I wasn't going to send it, of course, I couldn't even confide in my mother this deeply. She would be concerned and supportive rather than honest. I read over the letter again, memorizing all the ways in which I had disappointed myself.

I steadied myself, wiping the tears that had fallen without my notice.

_Be strong. Grow up and take responsibility for yourself_. _If you want to change, change. No more sulking._

"Incindio," I whispered, and watched the parchment burn until it was ashes in the wind. "A phoenix will rise from the ashes of this year," I thought, watching the charred remains of my mistakes swirl in the cool night breeze. It was potentially the most dramatic moment of my life, but I needed drama and gravitas to inspire this new chapter. Next year had to be different.


End file.
